Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis
by RedClyde
Summary: The story of Ryoko Aoshima and Seishun Gakuen's girls' tennis club. Follow an original cast of characters as they make friends, battle rivals, and compete in tournaments on their way to the Nationals! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! Ryoko: TPoT also has a website which has bonus content like drawings and comics, link in my profile. Check it out! :)
1. My Name's Ryoko

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 1: My Name's Ryoko

...

"Match point."

The entire stadium was on their feet, clapping and cheering. The roar of the crowd was so loud that she could practically feel the sound vibrating on her skin. Knowing that they were cheering for her added a spring to her step and filled her with renewed energy.

Just one more point and Ryoko Aoshima would achieve her dream of winning the National Tournament.

Once she and her opponent were in position, and the crowd had quieted, Ryoko tossed the ball up and served. The ball came down on the center line blisteringly fast, but her opponent was no slouch, and with a stretch of her arm managed to return it. The return was weak, though, which allowed Ryoko to follow up with a strong forehand that sent her opponent scrambling down the baseline to reach it.

The two rallied, and it was all Ryoko's pace. Her opponent had great defense, reaching shot after well-placed shot from Ryoko, but she couldn't keep it up forever. Ryoko kept forcing her to go wider and wider, then hit a perfectly-placed cross court shot. The crowd collectively held their breaths, thinking that would be the end of it. Amazingly, Ryoko's opponent once again managed to reach the ball...

...but it was all she could do to send a sky-high defensive lob back to Ryoko's side of the court.

Ryoko could feel a buzz in the air as she positioned herself underneath the incoming ball, arm pulled back and ready to smash. It was over. She knew it, her opponent knew it, and the crowd knew it. With this last shot, she would accomplish at 13 what her father had only been able to do at 16.

The girl gripped the handle of her racket tight in preparation, and—

...

Ryoko woke up to her strident, ringing alarm. With a groan, she reached over to her cellphone on the nightstand and randomly pressed buttons until she managed to shut it off. _Aww, dang it! Just when I was about to win..._

The girl sighed, stirring under her covers. It was time to get up, true, but she only _really_ had to get up when her mom called her down. _I'll just stay for a few more minutes,_ she thought, embracing her pillow with a sigh of contentment and replaying in her mind the events of the dream she'd just had. _Who knows, maybe if I fall asleep again I can pick up right where I left off._

She was almost dozing off again when her mom's voice called out from downstairs.

"Ryoko, breakfast is ready! Are you awake? You don't want to be late on your first day, do you?"

After a deep sigh, the girl resignedly threw aside her covers and got out of bed. She would have to get used to this now, she told herself. Vacation was over.

Suppressing a yawn, she walked over to the closet and took out her new school's uniform: a white shirt, a small, light green vest with a red ribbon in the middle, and a dark green skirt. She got dressed and stood in front of the mirror fitted on the inside of her closet's door, looking herself over.

Ryoko stood at average height for a 13-year-old girl, and had always had a slim figure from all the tennis she played. Her black hair reached down to her shoulders, but she tied it back into a single ponytail, as she did every morning. Her mom had this annoying habit of telling her she would be catching the attention of many a boy soon. Ryoko was doubtful. She thought she was pretty ordinary. The only thing she really liked about herself were her light blue eyes, which she'd inherited from her father.

When she finally deemed her appearance satisfactory, she scooped up her backpack and made her way downstairs to the kitchen where her mom was already seated at the table eating breakfast. The girl greeted her mom absently, taking a seat in front of the plate that had been prepared for her. The woman noticed her daughter's sullen look and gave her a knowing smile.

"Why the long face, honey? It's your first day at your new school."

Ryoko might have otherwise answered if her mouth hadn't already been full of toast. Of course, she was also thinking, _Parents just don't get it._ In the end, she just shrugged.

"You'll be fine, sweetie," her mom said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. She knew her daughter well. Ryoko was nervous now, but after making some friends, and especially after joining the school's tennis club, she'd be waking up excited to go to school. "You look so cute in your new uniform."

Ryoko blushed, this time at least managing to mutter, "Thanks."

A few minutes later, Ryoko pushed her chair back and stood up. She politely bid her mom farewell, put on her backpack, and left the house.

The nice thing about her new school was that it was close enough that she could comfortably go on foot. She took deep breaths of the fresh, morning air as she went, and was soon wide awake. She had soon begun to see other girls with the same uniform as her, and to hear 'Good morning' left and right as friends and acquaintances saw each other for the first time that day.

Before Ryoko knew it, she was looking up at the gates of a large school. On the wall to the right of the gates was a plaque with the engraved words 'Seishun Gakuen'.

...

Though it was Ryoko's first day of school since moving to Tokyo, it was actually already the second week of school for everyone else. She hadn't wanted to think about the possibility before, but now it was coming true: the sensei, a kind-looking old man, was making her stand in front of Junior Class 3 for an introduction.

"Class, we have a new transfer student today," the sensei said. The class went quiet and all eyes settled on Ryoko, who stood beside the sensei blushing furiously and looking down at her own shoes. "Why don't you introduce yourself, Ryoko-chan?"

Ryoko felt her cheeks grow even redder as she forced herself to look up her classmates, and then even more when she thought she heard whispers of 'cute' coming from a few of the boys.

"U-Um... My name's Ryoko Aoshima. Nice to meet you all." She bowed courteously.

Most of the class repeated her greeting: "Nice to meet you!"

Ryoko turned to the sensei, hoping to be able to sit down, but the man wasn't done yet.

"Tell us a little more about yourself, Ryoko-chan," he said, his innocent smile unaltered. "What are your hobbies or favorite subjects?"

Though Ryoko groaned internally, the old man looked like he was genuinely trying to be nice, and so Ryoko found she couldn't be _too_ mad at him.

"Well, um," Ryoko started, "I like playing tennis. And, in terms of subjects, I guess, math."

She didn't know what else to say, so she turned to the sensei. Thankfully, the old man gave a satisfied nod and turned to the class.

"Are there any empty chairs for Ryoko-chan to sit in?"

"Yeeees sensei, there's one here!"

A girl in the middle of the class waved her arm in the air, pointing to an empty chair in the row next to her. The sensei nodded and motioned for Ryoko to make her way there. He then turned, went to the blackboard, and started writing something with a piece of chalk. Most of the class went back to what they had been doing as Ryoko made her way over to the empty seat. She sat down with a relieved sigh, thankful that the spotlight wasn't on her anymore.

The girl that had spoken reached out and poked her on the shoulder. Ryoko turned to her and saw her smiling and waving. She had short, brown hair, and chestnut brown eyes.

"Hey, Ryoko-chan," the girl said, "I'm Noriko Ishino."

"Hi," Ryoko said.

"So you're going to join the tennis club, right?"

"Huh?"

"You said you like tennis. Are you going to join the club?"

"Oh. Yeah, I will."

Ryoko spared a concerned glance at the front of the classroom, but their sensei was still silently scribbling things on the blackboard.

"Don't sweat it," Noriko said, noticing her look. "He takes like ten minutes to write stuff before he starts talking. He doesn't mind us talking before that. Well, we think he doesn't mind. Maybe he just can't hear us."

"Oh."

Ryoko realized that there was indeed generalized chatting in the classroom. For a moment she wondered if any of it was about her, but then she decided she was being too paranoid, even if she did notice some of the students sneaking quick peeks at her every now and then. She figured that was normal considering she was a new transfer student.

She turned back to Noriko and asked, "Are you in the tennis club, Noriko-chan?"

"Yep!" Noriko nodded happily, giving her a thumbs up. "If you want, I can show you around later."

"Oh, yeah, that would really help. Thanks."

Ryoko sighed in relief. She hadn't been there more than five minutes, and she'd already found a friend and future tennis buddy. The young girl sat back in her seat and relaxed a little.

...

"And heeeeere are the courts!"

Ryoko's first day of classes had ended. Noriko had shown her around the main building during recess, but now she was going to show her what she'd been most looking forward to see: the school's tennis courts.

There were five courts total: three for the boys in front of the boys' club locker room, and two for the girls in an adjacent space by their own locker room. All of them were hard courts, and each set of courts was caged in so that balls wouldn't fly away. They stood in front of the girls' courts and Ryoko was pleased by what she saw. The courts looked well-maintained, definitely a step up from the ones at her previous school. It seemed to Ryoko that there was a lot of movement around today, though, and she also noticed something odd.

"Noriko-chan, why are the boys playing on the girls' courts?"

"Huh? Oh! That's 'cause they're having their ranking matches."

Ryoko smiled weakly, tilting her head. "Ranking matches?"

"Yep. It's like a mini-tournament. Our clubs do ranking matches to decide who the regular members will be."

They walked towards the boys' courts, and as they neared them Ryoko saw more matches being played there.

"Regular members are the ones that will represent our school in matches against other schools, right?"

"Yep." Noriko beamed, closing one of her eyes and making a 'V' with her index and middle fingers. "First-years can't participate in the ranking matches, which is why I haven't become a regular yet, but this year I'll be wearing a regular jersey for sure!"

Ryoko couldn't help but smile at the girl's enthusiasm. She was suddenly curious about how good of a player Noriko was. Maybe it was because they were friends, or the confidence that the girl displayed, but Ryoko had a feeling she was good.

"When do our ranking matches start?" Ryoko asked.

"Next Monday, I think. Oh, that's right! You have to join the club before the captain makes the match-ups." Noriko looked around for a moment, then her eyes lit up and she pointed over to the girls' courts. "Ah! There she is!"

Noriko grabbed Ryoko's hand and pulled her along towards the person she had pointed to, an old lady wearing a pink jacket and matching pink pants and who had her brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She stood just outside one of the tennis cages, quietly watching the matches being played before her.

"Who's that?"

"That's Ryuzaki-sensei, she supervises the tennis clubs," Noriko responded as they turned the corner of the girls' tennis courts. "Ryuzaki-sensei!"

"Hm?" The woman turned towards them, smiling warmly when she noticed Noriko. "Ah, Noriko. How are you?" She then looked curiously over at Ryoko. "Hm? And who's your friend?"

Ryoko went to open her mouth to introduce herself, but Noriko beat her to it. "Her name's Ryoko Aoshima! Sensei, she wants to join the tennis club. Can you give her a registration form?"

Ryuzaki felt her jacket pocket for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, I don't have one on me right now and I have to watch over these matches."

"Sensei, do you know if Captain Sakura has made the ranking tournament match-ups yet?"

"I don't think so. Don't worry, either way I'm sure it'll be no problem fitting in Ryoko-chan. I'll talk to Sakura."

"Ah, that's good. Thanks!"

Ryuzaki looked curiously at Ryoko. "You're a little quiet, aren't you?"

Ryoko bowed. "S-Sorry. I'm a little shy."

Ryuzaki laughed, waving it off. "No apology needed. My granddaughter is very shy, too. I don't mind." Then, before turning back to the match being played, she added: "I'll get you a registration form tomorrow, okay, Ryoko-chan?"

"Thank you."

Just then, the two boys that had been playing on one of the courts directly in front of them stepped out.

"Ah, that one was really close," one boy was saying to the other as they passed them, "I'll beat you next time."

"Ha! It's still too early for you to beat me. I've been getting better. Heck, I might just be able to become a regular this time."

"Don't get carried away now."

Noriko looked after them for a moment. A match was still going on in the other court on the far side but the one right in front of them was empty now. She looked around as if searching for something. Ryoko furrowed her brow.

"What's wrong, Noriko-chan?"

Noriko didn't respond. With a mischievous look on her face, she tapped Ryuzaki-sensei on the shoulder.

"Ryuuzaki-senseeeeei..."

"Huh?" Ryuzaki turned towards her. "What is it, Noriko?"

"Sensei, there's not going to be another match on this court right now?"

"Eh?" Ryuzaki looked at the court in front of them, then back at Noriko. "There will be in a moment. Those two that just left will inform the next pair of players that their turn is up. They should be here in a few minutes. Why?"

Noriko grinned, her eyes narrowing mischievously. She turned around slowly until she was looking Ryoko right in the eyes. Ryoko couldn't help but take a step back. What was her friend scheming?

"Sensei!" Noriko exclaimed suddenly, grabbing Ryoko by the hand and dragging her inside the cage, "We're going to play while they're not here, okay?"

"Eh?! Noriko, what are you—?" Ryuzaki began to say.

"I promise we'll get out when they get here!" Noriko waved back at her, smiling.

Ryuzaki stared at her, mouth agape, for several seconds before bowing her head and sighing. _That Noriko..._

"But Noriko-chan!" Ryoko was protesting as the other girl dragged her to the court, "We're still in our class uniforms. What if we get them dirty?"

"We'll be all right, don't worry!"

"B-But everyone will be watching!"

"So we'll just have to put on a show, then, won't we?"

Ryoko could feel her cheeks start to burn. She snuck a few peeks around and saw that the two were already attracting curious glances from the boys that were outside of the cage watching. Noriko ran to the side of the court where, resting on a bench, there was a tennis bag and a couple of rackets. She came back with two grey rackets, offering one to Ryoko.

"Noriko-chan, that's someone's bag! Are you sure this is all right?"

"Come on! We only have a few minutes. Let's play a quick one-game match."

Ryoko hesitantly reached out and accepted the racket, wondering how Noriko could be so enthusiastic about all this. Noriko put her racket vertically on the ground and spun it to decide who would serve first. The racket could either fall right-side up, 'smooth', or upside down, 'rough', distinguished by using the letter on the bottom of the handle.

"Which?" Noriko asked.

"Smooth."

The racket came down with the letter upside down, 'rough', meaning that Noriko would get the first serve.

Ryoko cringed. As if the whole thing wasn't bad enough, she wasn't even serving. If conditions were different, Ryoko might have been excited to see how her friend played, but right now she just wanted to get this over with.

They both quickly got into position. Ryoko tried to focus on that little yellow ball in Noriko's hands rather than all the looks they were getting. She noted with interest that Noriko held her racket in her left hand.

"Ready, Ryoko-chan?" Noriko asked. "Here I come!"

Noriko tossed the ball in the air. Her knees bent down slightly, then her arm shot forward, sending the ball to Ryoko's service box. Ryoko took a step to the side and swung, hitting a cross court return back to Noriko. They began to rally lightly, feeling out each other's skills, and as she hit the ball Ryoko felt herself calm down. She was still nervous from all the intrigued eyes that were watching them play, but she found herself concentrating more on just chasing the tennis ball.

"Ryoko-chan, let's speed it up. We don't have much time!"

Noriko's next shot came with more power, and Ryoko had to speed up to reach it. _Okay, if she wants to get a little serious, then..._ The girl hit a deep cross court shot that she thought for sure would win her the point, but when she looked up she saw that Noriko was already there. _She's fast!_

Noriko hit a straight shot which the surprised Ryoko wasn't able to reach.

"15-0!" Noriko exclaimed with a smile.

Ryoko just gaped at her. She hadn't even seen Noriko run the length of the baseline.

One of the boys that were watching whispered to another beside him: "Wow, that girl is pretty fast."

Ryuzaki smiled. _Noriko's fast, all right. Among the girls, and perhaps even the boys, she might just be the fastest runner in the school._

Ryoko's eyes followed the path of the ball as Noriko tossed it into the air and served again. She returned the serve and the two girls rallied, this time with more intensity.

 _She's getting to all my shots, no matter how well I place them,_ Ryoko thought as she hit another deep cross court shot. She prepared herself for a normal return, but then saw Noriko's racket drop down. _Drop shot!_ Ryoko reacted immediately, breaking into a run, but had to slow her pace as she felt her school shoes threaten to fly off her feet if she tried to move at full speed. Even though she began running before Noriko had even hit the drop shot, her racket was still a few centimeters short when the ball bounced the second time.

Ryoko looked up. Noriko was at the net. Even if she had reached the ball in time, Noriko would have been in a great position to finish the point off.

Noriko sighed, shaking her left foot. "Man, it's hard to run in these shoes, isn't it, Ryoko-chan?"

"You say that, but you're so fast..."

Ryoko retrieved the ball in front of her and stood up. It was true that these shoes were a hindrance, and the skirt wasn't helping either, but...

"Oh yeah," Noriko said, giggling, "30-0."

Ryoko threw the ball to Noriko, who caught it and started walking back to serve position.

Ryoko narrowed her eyes. Her friend sent another serve to her service box, and this time Ryoko returned the ball with a down-the-line shot. Noriko reached it but only after the ball had left her racket did she notice that Ryoko was rushing the net. Ryoko finished the point with a volley to the opposite corner.

 _Noriko wasn't paying attention, which allowed Ryoko to take full advantage of the aggressive approach,_ Ryuzaki thought. _It was a smart move._

"Ah, you got me there, Ryoko-chan," Noriko said. "Okay, that's 30-15."

Ryoko nodded, glad to have gotten the point. She thought she even heard some playful cheers from the boys watching, but maybe that was just her imagination.

On Noriko's serve Ryoko approached the net again, but this time the other girl was prepared. Noriko lobbed the ball over Ryoko's head, stopping her in her tracks just as she was about to reach the net. Ryoko's first instinct was to jump to try and smash it, and the lob was low enough that she could have reached it, but she stopped herself. Jumping up would not be a smart move wearing a skirt! Instead, Ryoko ran back to try to get the ball. Her school shoes hindered her and she could only attempt a backhand at an awkward angle that wound up sending the ball straight into the net.

"40-15. Game point, Ryoko-chan," Noriko said, smiling. Ryoko smirked back and got into the next receiving position.

Noriko had soon served once more, and this time both girls stayed at the baseline, hitting deep shots back and forth, neither missing.

"Wow, pretty good rally," a boy said after a minute.

"Yeah, I didn't know the girls played this well," said another. "It almost feels like I'm watching our regulars play."

Ryuzaki looked to the side. The two boys who spoke were standing at the entrance of the court – and they were the same two boys that were supposed to be playing!

"Eh? How long have you two been standing there?"

Ryuzaki looked around and realized that they weren't the only ones. Even the match in the adjacent court had been paused, the players watching the unexpected bout between the girls along with everybody else around that had noticed it.

At that moment, Ryoko was pulling her arm back as the ball bounced in front of her. She hit a clean forehand shot with so much topspin that it dipped almost as soon as it had cleared the net. Noriko dashed and managed to return it before it bounced a second time, but the shot hadn't been optimal. The ball hit the cord of the net and bounced up, seeming to float for a few moments before dropping just inside Noriko's court, not even giving her a chance. Ryoko scratched the back of her head, smiling sheepishly at her good fortune.

"You got lucky," Noriko said with a giggle. "40-30."

"All right, that's enough!" Ryuzaki's voice called out. They looked over at the older woman with a start. "Time's up, girls. These two have the court now."

As Ryoko slipped out of tennis mode, she looked around, noticed how much attention they'd drawn, and flushed furiously. There weren't this many people watching them in the beginning and she hadn't been paying attention in the middle of the match to notice all the new eyes that had shown up. Those were a lot of eyes. Ryoko almost jumped when Noriko grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards Ryuzaki and the two boys.

"See? That was fun, wasn't it?"

Ryoko bowed her head, feeling her cheeks burning. "Y-Yes."

When the two reached Ryuzaki, Noriko looked down at her racket. "Oh yeah, the rackets!"

"Those are ours," one of the boys said.

"Oh, ha! Here you are." Noriko smiled, handing her racket to the boy. Ryoko handed hers to the other boy.

Ryoko bowed to them. "Sorry for taking them without asking!"

The boys waved it off, "No problem," and entered the court. The other matches resumed and some of the onlookers began to disperse.

"You two attracted some attention," Ryuzaki said, a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips.

"Noriko-chan's never one to shy away from attention," came an amused voice near them.

Noriko looked at the source. "Ah, Yuka-senpai!"

The girl was about Ryoko's height. Her expression was calm and curious, her hazel eyes seeming to take in everything that happened in front of her. Her face was framed by short, dirty-blonde hair. Aside from the normal Seigaku school uniform, she wore a white wristband on her left wrist.

"Let's see," Yuka said, smiling pleasantly, "playing a match in the middle of the boys' ranking matches and sweating up your school uniform... Noriko-chan's idea?"

Ryuzaki chuckled. "Precisely."

"You were watching, senpai?" Noriko asked eagerly.

"I was," Yuka said. "I'm pretty surprised Ryuzaki-sensei allowed such a thing."

Ryuzaki sighed dejectedly. "Yeah, I don't know if I should have. It was a distraction to everybody."

"Yuka-senpai." Noriko grabbed Ryoko by the arm and nudged her forward. "This is Ryoko Aoshima. She's a transfer student. She's joining the club, too."

"Nice to meet you, Ryoko-chan. My name's Yuka Kiyomura."

Ryoko bowed. "Nice to meet you, Yuka-senpai."

"Well, it was fun watching your mini-match, but I have to be off now." She waved goodbye to them, smiling. "I'll see you all later."

Noriko, Ryoko and Ryuzaki waved after Yuka as the girl turned and walked away.

"We're taking off too, Ryuzaki-sensei," Noriko said.

"See you girls later."

"Bye, Ryuzaki-sensei."

"Goodbye, Ryoko-chan."

Noriko and Ryoko headed towards the front of the school, passing by the boys' courts on the way. Through the crowd of onlookers, Ryoko could have sworn she saw a red-headed boy doing some sort of flip on the court, but she wasn't really sure. No, it must have just been her imagination. Who would do a flip to return a ball, anyway? She just shrugged and shook her head, almost laughing while trying to picture it.

"I guess we're going to have to finish our match some other time, huh, Ryoko-chan?"

"Yeah." Ryoko turned to look at her new friend. "Hey, is Yuka-senpai a regular?"

The two turned the corner and came to the front part of the school grounds. The gates came into view, and they could see several other groups of friends leaving the school.

"Of course she is, you didn't know?" Noriko exclaimed with mock surprise. Seeing Ryoko's indignant expression, she quickly added: "Joking, joking! Yep, she sure is, and she's one of the best, too. She's called a tennis genius."

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. Tennis genius? That was quite the praise.

"Would we have a chance against her?" Ryoko asked, thoughtful.

"Honestly, I doubt it," Noriko said, "I think the only person that can beat Yuka-senpai is Captain Sakura. And I've heard that the coaches think Captain Sakura is good enough to get a scholarship to play in America. If we had to face either of them, I don't know if I'd bet on us."

"Oh." Ryoko's eyes narrowed. She probably wouldn't bet on herself or Noriko, either... but Ryoko couldn't help but feel a tinge of excitement at the thought of playing such strong opponents. "Who knows? Maybe we could cause an upset."

Noriko looked at her friend, surprised that the shy girl would make such a confident statement.

"Ha, that's the spirit!" Noriko said, opening a smile again. The two reached the exit of the school and turned to each other. "If we have to face them, we'll figure out a way to beat 'em. The three of us will become regulars this year for sure. That's a promise!" Noriko gave Ryoko a thumbs up.

"Yeah." Ryoko tilted her head to the side. "Wait, 'the _three_ of us'?"

"You, me, and Keiko Maeki. She's in our grade, too. Her sister Ayame's a third-year regular like Yuka-senpai, so Keiko's super-excited to become one, too. She was absent today, but don't worry, we'll run into her tomorrow."

Ryoko nodded.

"So, which way are you going? My house is down this way."

"Aw, I go this way. Well, see you tomorrow then, Ryoko-chan!"

"See you, Noriko-chan!"

The two waved to each other and parted ways.

Ryoko smiled and sighed in relief as she made her way back home. She had survived the toughest day of school: the first one. She'd been fortunate to meet Noriko and get acquainted with Ryuzaki-sensei and Yuka-senpai, not to mention some of her classmates. All in all, it had been a pretty good day. The only bad thing was all the accumulated homework she would have to rush through from the week she missed.

Before she knew it, she was at the door of her house. Her mom was in the kitchen fixing up lunch when she came in. They greeted each other and Ryoko began to happily recount the events of the day. Just like mom knew would happen, of course.


	2. The Regular

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 2: The Regular

...

Noriko glared at the equations on the list of exercises the math teacher had just handed out to the class. Ryoko had explained the material to her just that morning, but the girl felt like she'd already forgotten half of it. She lazily stretched out in her seat, looking over at her friend.

"You know, Ryoko-chan," Noriko said, rubbing her eyes, "it's been one day and you're already done with all of your homework, while I've been here since the start last week and have only done half. How is that possible?"

Ryoko looked up from whatever she'd been jotting down in her notebook and smiled at Noriko.

"Well, I figured I'd get it all out of the way. Plus, math is my favorite subject."

"Oh yeah, you said that in your introduction yesterday." Noriko shrugged. "I don't know, I study for tests and stuff but I get bored with homework. I always just feel like doing something fun, like tennis, you know?"

Ryoko nodded, smiling. "I usually feel like that, too, but I just force myself to focus. We're going to have to do it eventually, right?"

"Hey Ryoko-chan, can you guess my favorite subject?"

Ryoko thought about it for a moment, then said: "Gym?"

"Close. But Gym is almost never tennis, so no. My favorite's actually History."

"Oh. How was that close, then?"

"History and Gym are pretty much the same thing, right?" Noriko laughed.

The bell rang. Noriko closed her notebook with a "Finally!" Ryoko followed suit and they stood up, ready to leave for recess.

"Oh yeah, you said you were going to introduce me to your friend? Should we go find her?"

Noriko nodded. "Yep. Although really, it's more like she'll find us. Watch."

"Norikooooo!"

The two heard the shout as soon as they stepped out into the hall, and they turned just in time to see a red-headed girl leap towards Noriko. Noriko didn't have the time to dodge before the girl caught her in a bear hug that almost knocked them both over.

"Norikooo, long time no see!"

Noriko didn't seem bothered. In fact, she chuckled. "It's only been since last Friday, Keiko."

"I know, but it feels like longer, doesn't it? Tee-hee!"

"Ryoko-chan, this is Keiko Maeki." Noriko motioned to the spiky-haired girl currently hug-strangling her. " _Her_ favorite subject is Gym."

Ryoko smiled at Keiko. "Nice to meet you, Keiko-chan."

"Ah, Ryoko-chan-sama!" Keiko let go of Noriko and bowed deeply. "Honored, I am, to make your acquaintance."

"Energetic, isn't she?" Noriko sighed and shook her head, hands on hips. Ryoko nodded, laughing.

"Oh!" Keiko suddenly exclaimed, "Noriko, we're going to reserve a court at the gym tonight! Aya told me to invite you and Ryoko."

"Aya?" Ryoko's eyebrows went up.

"Ayame Maeki," Noriko said. "Remember I told you Keiko has a sister who's a regular?"

"Yeah, I remember. But how would her sister know about me?"

Noriko shrugged. "Ayame-senpai and Yuka-senpai are good friends. Maybe Yuka-senpai told her about you."

"Yeah, Aya said something like that." Keiko nodded eagerly. "So, you two wanna come?"

"Well, of course I do, but I can't," Noriko said, shoulders slumping. "My mom asked me to look after my little brother today."

"Awww, just tie him up and he'll be fine!" Keiko suggested, and the three laughed. "Well, what about you, Ryoko? If you go we can do a doubles match with my sis and Yuka-senpai!"

"Um... Yeah, sure, I think I can go."

"Great! Five o'clock! See you there!" Keiko ran down the hall before anyone could say anything more.

Ryoko scratched her head. "Um..."

Noriko chuckled, guessing at what Ryoko was thinking. "Don't worry, she's a little crazy like that. I've been to that gym before so I'll give you the address later."

"Thanks."

...

Ryoko left her house early. She was still new in town and didn't want to risk getting lost and arriving late. Noriko's instructions were precise, though, so she reached the gym without any problems. The huge round sign above the main entrance read 'Eagle Fitness' and had the silhouette of an eagle behind the letters.

The girl walked through the front doors and came into a square reception room. Behind the desk sat a bored-looking middle-aged man reading a newspaper. The walls were lined with half a dozen empty chairs, and two hallways broke off from the room at the back, beside the receptionist. If it hadn't been for the exercise-related inspirational posters on the walls, Ryoko would have thought she'd accidentally walked into an office building.

She was the first one to get there so she settled into one of the chairs to wait. As Noriko had explained, since she didn't have a membership herself, she needed a member to bring her in as a guest. The receptionist asked if she needed any help, but she kindly replied "No, I'm just waiting for my friends."

No more than five minutes later, Yuka walked in. Like Ryoko, she carried a tennis bag over her shoulder. She wore sportive blue shorts, a shirt of the same color, and a white wristband on her left wrist. She immediately spotted Ryoko and smiled, waving and making her way over.

"Ah, Ryoko-chan, you made it."

"Hi senpai."

"I got a call from Ayame on my way over here. It seems she and Keiko-chan might be a little a late. Let's go ahead and start playing."

This whole time Ryoko had been expecting to play doubles like Keiko had said, not singles against a Seigaku regular. Hesitantly, she nodded. _It's just practice, right? And only until Keiko-chan and Ayame-senpai show up..._

After Yuka greeted the receptionist and checked in, Ryoko followed her as she started down the hallway to the left.

"We always reserve the same court when we come here," Yuka said. "It's become sort of a tradition. Too bad we can't bring more people, though. From the Seigaku team, only Ayame, Keiko-chan, and I have memberships here."

As they walked, Ryoko saw the indoor tennis courts on their left through large square windows lining the wall. There were ceiling-high nets between each of the courts, completely separating them, and two benches beside each court. Of the four courts she saw, only one was being used. Despite her nervousness, Ryoko had to admire how nice the courts looked.

They reached the door that led into the courts area. Yuka pointed to the court at the far left end. "Our court is that one." They headed to it, dropping off their tennis bags on top of the benches. "This time you'll be able to run around freely." Yuka smiled, taking out a blue racket from inside her bag with the letter 'Y' on the bottom of the handle.

"Huh?" It took a moment for Ryoko to realize she was referring to her 'match' with Noriko the day before, and how the school shoes had hindered her movement. "Oh! Yeah."

"Noriko is impulsive when it comes to tennis, which leads her to doing things like that." Yuka chuckled. She put a couple of tennis balls from her bag in her pocket and turned to Ryoko. "Let's warm up first."

Ryoko retrieved her own racket, a lighter shade of blue than Yuka's and with an 'R' on the bottom of the handle. Mimicking Yuka, she also retrieved some tennis balls from her bag; she hadn't known if she was supposed to bring her own, so she did just to be safe. Luckily, because of the net separating their court from the next, there was no way for their balls to get mixed up with someone else's.

Yuka walked to one side of the court while Ryoko walked to the other. When she saw that Ryoko was ready, Yuka sent an underhand serve her way, and they proceeded to lightly rally back and forth for several minutes. With racket in hand, Ryoko's nervousness began to fade away.

Eventually, Yuka held her racket at an angle so that the ball hit it and slowly rose up to be caught by Yuka's open hand.

"Okay, I think we've warmed up enough," she said. "You want to play a practice match, Ryoko-chan?"

Ryoko's eyes widened slightly. "Um... Okay."

"Do you mind if I start serving?"

"No."

Yuka got into a serve ready position and looked across the court to Ryoko, who looked back intently. Ryoko felt anxiety well up in her chest as she waited for the other girl's serve. Would she be able to return the serve of a Seigaku regular?

The Seigaku regular tossed the ball into the air. In the same fluid motion, Yuka bent her knees, brought her blue racket back behind her, then in a flash shot it forward, sending the ball flying straight to the corner of Ryoko's service box. Ryoko marveled at how graceful the service motion had been, having to force herself to focus on the ball again. She gripped her racket tightly in preparation to hit her return, her eyes widening as she saw the ball hit the corner exactly where the two lines met.

 _It's fast, and the control is unbelievable,_ she thought as she brought her arm back, _but I can return it!_ Confidence rose up in her as she swung her arm forward, hitting a down-the-line backhand return with perfect form. _All right! I did it!_

Yuka was unflustered. The girl ran the baseline and returned Ryoko's ball with a deep cross court shot. Ryoko gasped. She had expected to win the point with her well-executed return. After a split second of surprise, she ran after the ball, jumping and reaching out as far as she could, but missed it by centimeters. She lost her balance and had to put her hands on the court to avoid falling.

"Are you okay?" Yuka asked with a concerned look.

Ryoko stood up and smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Yuka smiled back. "Okay," she said, heading to the next serve position. "Your return was really good!"

Ryoko stood in position to receive the next serve, more confident than the first time. She hadn't won the point, but she'd been able to return Yuka's serve, and the regular had even complimented her!

Yuka had soon served and Ryoko once again returned it. They started rallying, and Ryoko felt with each shot she hit that playing with a Seigaku regular wasn't as impossible as she had imagined. As the game went on, the rallies started to get longer. The two were visibly having fun while playing, and it even got to the point where they'd pass up winners just to keep the point going.

They lost track of time. More people had arrived while they'd been focused on playing such that the other three courts were full when at last four High School boys opened the door to their court. Both Ryoko and Yuka looked over to them with surprised expressions.

"Hey, we reserved the court for this time slot," one of the boys said.

"Wow," Yuka wiped the sweat off of her forehead, "What time is it?"

Another boy looked at his watch. "Five after seven."

Yuka laughed. "Time flew by, huh, Ryoko-chan? Our time's up."

Ryoko nodded, smiling. The two started retrieving their balls, and in less than a minute had packed their stuff back into their bags and were ready to leave.

"In the end, those two didn't show up," Yuka said as they headed back towards the entrance of the gym. "I wonder if they had a fight and didn't feel like coming anymore."

"Really?" Ryoko asked, brow furrowing.

Yuka chuckled. "They're always having little fights. It's nothing serious. Ayame certainly wouldn't skip just because of that. Something must have come up, since neither of them came." She turned to Ryoko. "Good thing you were able to come or I wouldn't have had anyone to play with."

"It was really fun. I'm glad I came."

"Ryoko-chan, you're going to join the Seigaku tennis club, right?"

"Yeah. I handed in the form today."

"How long have you been playing tennis, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't mind," Ryoko said. She was thoughtful for a moment. "I guess... since I was four years old. My dad taught me how to play."

"Hm." Yuka stared at her curiously.

Ryoko tilted her head, wondering what was going through the older girl's head. Out here, Yuka seemed a girl like any other, but in the court she was the second-best in Seigaku. 'Tennis genius', Noriko had said. _I was able to play with her evenly, though. That can't mean I'm at her level, could it?_

Ryoko couldn't resist asking: "Yuka-senpai, do you think I can become a regular?"

"Can you become a regular?" Yuka repeated ponderingly. "I suppose that only depends on you, Ryoko-chan."

Ryoko didn't know what to say to that cryptic answer, so she kept quiet. The two finally reached the entrance and stepped out into the cool, early evening air. The sun was setting on the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and crimson.

"If my mom was going to pick me up, we could have given you a ride back," Yuka said, "but I walked here."

"Oh, no worries, senpai. I did too. I live close by."

Yuka smiled. "That's good. I had fun, Ryoko-chan. See you at school."

"Me too, Yuka-senpai. See you!"


	3. The First Practice

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 3: The First Practice

...

Ryoko woke up to her strident, ringing alarm. She would normally groan and turn it off in frustration before lying down again for a few minutes, but today she tapped it and immediately sat up, throwing her sheets aside. She rushed off her bed and to her closet, pulling out her school uniform and getting dressed.

At that point she would usually find something to fiddle with before heading downstairs to have breakfast, but not today. She left her room and descended the stairs in a flash, reaching the kitchen before her mom had even set the plates.

Her mom regarded her with surprise. "I didn't even have to call you once," she said as she began to pour the youth a glass of milk. "Why so energetic today? Because it's finally Friday?"

"No mom, the boys' ranking matches are over," she gleefully explained. "Today's my first day of practice!"

...

Ryoko stepped out of the girls' tennis club locker room, squinting as her eyes adjusted back to the sunlight. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she wore the girls' tennis club uniform: a white t-shirt with orange short sleeves and orange collar, and a white skirt with white shorts underneath. She gripped the familiar handle of her aqua blue racket in her right hand.

The girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the warm touch of the sun on her skin and the sweet fragrance of the flowers growing around there. It was a beautiful day, a great day for her first practice.

"Ryoko!"

Snapped out of her reverie, Ryoko looked to the left and saw Noriko and Keiko approaching. The two wore the same uniform as her and were holding their own rackets, Keiko a red one and Noriko a yellow one. Ryoko waved to the two.

"Ryoko, that looks good on you," Noriko said, "but we're not going to be wearing these for very long, right?"

"We're not?"

"Regulars! Regulars! Regulars!" Keiko shouted, waving her hands in the air.

Noriko nodded. "That's right! We're going to become regulars, then we get to wear the regular jersey."

"Yeah!" Keiko clenched her fists. "All we need to do is beat everyone!"

Noriko nodded in agreement again, with a decided look on her face. "Yep, easy as that."

Ryoko chuckled, looking from one to the other. She wondered if they had been talking, or, more specifically, if Keiko had been talking, to get them both fired up like this.

"That's not all you need," came a voice seemingly out of nowhere, making all three girls jump in surprise. Noriko and Keiko stepped aside and turned around, revealing the smiling girl that was behind them and that had just spoken.

The girl was slightly taller than Noriko and Keiko but slightly shorter than Ryoko. She had her light brown neck-length hair tied back in two ponytails, and two round brown eyes looked at them from behind her glasses. What immediately caught their attention was the Seigaku regular jersey she was wearing. It had blue instead of the orange of the club uniform, and the blue stripes also ran along the shoulders and down the arms. 'Seigaku' was written over the heart.

"Ah, regular!" Keiko pointed at Chisato in mock surprise, then hugged her tight.

The girl laughed, ruffling Keiko's hair. "Hello, Keiko-chan. Noriko-chan, too. And..." She looked at Ryoko.

"Ryoko Aoshima." Ryoko bowed.

"Oh, _you're_ Ryoko-chan," Chisato said knowingly. "I'm Chisato Fukano. Nice to meet you."

"Chisato-senpai," Noriko started, "what did you mean by that's not all we need?"

"Well, I'm just being realistic," Chisato answered politely. "You need a bit of luck to become a regular, too. If you wind up in Yuka's block or in the captain's block, you're twice as likely to not become one."

Noriko and even Keiko stopped to reflect upon this.

"Um, blocks?" Ryoko asked, tilting her head to the side. "How does that work?"

"Ryoko, don't you know how the ranking matches work?" Keiko asked in a surprised tone.

Ryoko shook her head. "We didn't have anything like this at my last school."

"It's simple!" Keiko said. "The captain divides everyone into four blocks, then everyone plays the other people in their block once, and the two with the most wins from each block become regulars!"

"Depending on how the captain divides everybody, we get to see some really cool matches." Chisato smiled. "Speaking of which, did you all see Kunimitsu Tezuka's match against Syuichiroh Oishi? Oh, they're both so cool!"

"Yeah, I saw that!" Keiko said, jumping happily.

"Aw, I had to go straight home that day, I missed it." Noriko sulked.

Ryoko stood by as the three gave compliments to names she didn't recognize. Even if she had wanted to be a part of the conversation she didn't know anything about the boys they were talking about except that they were members of the boys' tennis club. She resisted the urge to sigh, and instead looked around.

Her eyes fell upon a vibrant red-haired youth in one of the boys' courts just as he performed a kind of flip to return a seemingly out of reach shot. Ryoko narrowed her eyes, taking a few steps forward and examining the boy. She remembered she saw something like that on her first day but had dismissed it. The boy wore the boys' Seigaku regular jersey. He ran left and right, returning all the shots his opponent sent his way.

The boy hit a return shot with the racket behind his back. It seemed like something that should never work, and yet he did it casually and won the point.

"That's too bad, try again next week!" the boy exclaimed, grinning to his opponent while making a 'V' with his fingers.

Without realizing it, Ryoko was staring at him. Suddenly, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulder. It was Noriko, regarding her with a sly grin. "Eiji Kikumaru," she said, pointing to the red-headed boy.

Ryoko shook her head furiously, immediately feeling a blush coming on. "N-No, I wasn't looking at him!" She looked behind them, but Chisato and Keiko were thankfully still talking amongst themselves and not paying attention.

"You've got good taste, Ryoko. He's cute, and a regular."

"Noriko-chan, please..."

"Okay, okay, I won't tell the others you have a secret crush."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Oh, come on, just admit it. You were _so_ looking."

"I wasn't looki—ah!"

A girl turned the corner of the locker room and bumped into Ryoko and Noriko. The two had to take a step back to not fall.

The girl towered above them. She had long dark brown hair and wore a regular jersey like Chisato's. She eyed them with annoyance. "Watch where you're standing."

"It's not our fault, senpai," Noriko protested.

The girl walked closer and looked her in the eye. "Don't talk back to your senpai."

"Mitsune," they heard Chisato say, "let's be nice to our underclassmen, hm?"

The tall girl turned her head, seeing Keiko and Chisato standing beside them with disapproving looks on their faces.

"Tch." With one last look to Ryoko and Noriko, Mitsune walked off.

"Mitsune Yonesima," Noriko told Ryoko when Mitsune was well out of earshot. "If tennis was rudeness, she'd be the best regular on the team."

"She's just easily irritable," Chisato said, "but she won't do you any harm. Anyway, let's get going, shall we?"

The four girls approached the courts. Ryoko could see many girls already inside them, some hitting balls to each other, others chatting off to the side. Ryoko gave a quick look around the court but didn't see Ryuzaki.

"Noriko-chan, where's Ryuzaki-sensei?"

"Ryuzaki-sensei? Oh, she's almost never around here. She's always with the boys' club. Captain Sakura handles pretty much everything, along with—"

"Ah!" Chisato waved at a girl standing in the entrance to the courts, "Ayame!"

"Heh, yeah, along with the vice-captain, Ayame-senpai."

Also a regular, Ayame had short, purplish-black hair and matching dark purple eyes. She wore a white cap with the letter 'A' on it and a Seigaku regular jersey. Ayame waved back at them, a smirk gracing her easygoing expression.

"Hey, Noriko, Chisato," she said when they reached her. She looked at Ryoko. "Ryoko, right? Nice to meet you, I'm Ayame. Sorry for bailing on you and Yuka on Tuesday."

Ryoko shook her head. "It's okay, Ayame-senpai. Nice to meet you, too."

Keiko cleared her throat loudly, crossing her arms and eyeing Ayame with a serious expression.

"Oh, hey chibi."

"I have a name, Aya!"

"Yeah, it's 'chibi.'"

"No, it's not!"

Chisato started laughing. Noriko and Ryoko couldn't resist and were soon giggling as well.

"Ohh, that's it!" Keiko started pushing Ayame inside the court. "Come on! We're having a match."

Ayame sighed, looking a little bored as her little sister led her away. "Chibi, there are no courts open."

"I—don't—care!"

"Ooh, I want to see how this turns out." Chisato followed them.

"Come on, Ryoko, let's find an open spot and start hitting, too." Noriko began heading towards the courts and motioned for Ryoko to follow.

...

The first practice was a casual affair. While some girls played on whichever courts were open or simply practiced their swing motions (particularly the ones who were intent on becoming regulars like many of the third-years and Ryoko, Noriko and Keiko), others just hung out with friends and chatted. Ryoko spent most of it rallying with Noriko.

Time flew, and a couple of hours later, a tall girl sporting a regular's jacket walked up to the entrance of the courts. She wore her shoulder-length golden blonde hair loose behind her, and her eyes were a deep emerald green which, like her facial expression, carried an air of decidedness.

Ayame came to stand by her side as the tall girl took a look around the court before her voice boomed: "Everyone, listen up!"

Every person present stopped what they were doing and turned to look her. Ryoko noticed that everybody, even the rowdy Keiko, had stopped to listen.

"First, I would like to officially welcome any new members here to the Seigaku Girls' Tennis Club," the girl said once everybody was paying attention. "I am your captain, Sakura Sugiike, and this is your vice-captain, Ayame Maeki. Starting Monday, we will hold ranking matches to decide the regulars who will represent Seishun Gakuen in the Tokyo District Tournament."

Ryoko heard some hushed whispers after that comment. The captain continued.

"I'll put up the block tables on a bulletin board in front of the locker room, so everyone can see which block they're in. You'll also find the schedule there. I trust everyone will be able to make it to their matches. Anyway, that is all for today. I'll see you all next week. Good luck!"

Everybody bowed and said "Thank you very much!" almost in unison. They slowly started to file out, Ryoko and Noriko among them. The two bid farewell to Ayame and Keiko, and to Yuka and Chisato before going to the locker room to get their stuff. Once they had changed out of their tennis uniforms, they began heading to the gates of the school.

"Man!" Noriko put her hands behind her head and looked up at the sky. "Our first ranking matches. I wonder who's going to wind up in our blocks."

"Yeah." Ryoko was thoughtful for a moment. "Hey, Noriko-chan. You know the club thing last Tuesday? Ayame and Keiko wound up not being able to go, so it was just Yuka-senpai and me."

Noriko turned her head to look her, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know. What about it?"

"Well, I wound up playing Yuka-senpai. And... I actually didn't do too badly. I mean, we ran out of time, but we were tied 3-3. So maybe we don't have to worry too much about the ranking matches, right?"

"Oh." Noriko looked up at the sky again, seeming to hesitate for the first time since Ryoko had known her. "Ryoko... were you able to return any of her serves?"

"What? Um, yeah, I returned all of them."

Noriko sighed, lowering her arms back down. "Yuka-senpai wasn't playing seriously then."

"Huh?" Ryoko looked disappointed.

"Oh, don't worry, Ryoko." She looked at Ryoko and smiled. "Yuka-senpai's just nice like that. She rarely plays seriously."

Ryoko was quiet the rest of the way, and Noriko also didn't say anything more until they had reached the gates.

"You're right, though. We shouldn't worry about the ranking matches. No matter who we have to play, we're going to make it!" She put her hands on Ryoko's shoulders. "Right?"

Ryoko nodded and smiled back despite herself. "Right."

Noriko laughed. "That's the spirit! Well, I'll see you Monday then, Ryoko. Have a good weekend!"

"You too!"


	4. Ranking Matches

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 4: Ranking Matches

...

The setting sun's rays dimly illuminated the clear drops of sweat that slid down her face and dropped off her chin. She breathed heavily. Her left hand held a tennis ball and the other, her aqua blue racket.

Ryoko felt like there was a swarm of butterflies in her stomach. The girls' tennis club ranking matches started the next day. Depending on her luck, she could be facing some of the best players in the school. Would she be good enough to make it as a regular if that happened?

Her old school didn't even have ranking matches, instead using a volunteer system to decide who would participate in tournaments – in the very rare instances where they even did participate in a tournament. This would be her first time participating in something like this. She had become a bit more confident after playing Yuka at the gym, but Noriko had popped that bubble by informing her that Yuka had most likely been going easy on her.

And so, Ryoko did what she usually did when she was nervous: tennis. At home, that meant hitting against the garage wall of her house. She had done this so much over the weekend that her mother jokingly asked her if she was trying to knock down the wall.

What could she say? Focusing only on hitting that little yellow ball before it bounced a second time had a way of relaxing her.

The girl hit the ball towards the wall again, trying to put the upcoming events out of her mind, at least temporarily.

...

The next day, Ryoko was so anxious to see who was in her block that she had a hard time paying attention to class. Noriko felt the same way. The two were doing a lab activity when the recess bell rang, and Noriko dashed out of the classroom so quickly that she almost dropped three glass tubes on the floor. After she apologized to Ryoko, who had caught the tubes before they met their untimely demise on the lab floor, the two were off to the girls' tennis locker room.

There was already a small group of girls huddled around the bulletin board when they arrived. Ryoko and Noriko recognized them all from the tennis club, and they also saw Keiko and Ayame in the back. Mixed reactions could be heard from the girls as they found their names in their respective blocks.

Ryoko and Noriko walked over, greeted the girls, and began searching for their names.

"Ah! Block C!" Keiko pointed at one of the papers on the bulletin board. "We're in the same block, Aya!"

"Oh, are we?" Ayame narrowed her eyes at the paper. "You're right. So, this time your loss will be official."

"No way, no how!" Keiko made a fist. "I'm gonna beat you!"

"Is that so?" Ayame began to walk away, with Keiko right behind her.

"Yeah, that's right! You won't get anything past me!"

"We'll see, chibi."

Noriko found her name, and immediately hunched over and sighed.

"Aw, man," she said, shoulders slumping, "I'm in block D, same as the captain. Well, at least there are no other regulars in it. Which one are you in, Ryoko?"

"That one." Ryoko pointed at the block B paper. "Mitsune-senpai is in it..."

Noriko read the paper. "Mitsune-senpai will be a hard one to beat. Mm, there's Junko-senpai, too. I heard she almost became a regular last year. You can afford to lose once and still become a regular... but still, there are at least two strong players in your block."

"Do you know who the last girl is?"

Noriko read the last name. "Tamiyo Nishinaka? Nope. Must be a newcomer."

Ryoko furrowed her brow. She could lose once and still become a regular... but that depended on the results of the other matches. Ideally she wouldn't lose any matches to guarantee becoming a regular, but she wasn't so sure she would be able to win them all. Even if she beat everyone else, Mitsune was a regular, like Yuka. Did she really have any hope of beating her?

"Well, let's get going or we won't finish our snacks before recess ends," Noriko motioned for Ryoko to come. "We have to have energy for the matches!"

Ryoko nodded, though she didn't come right away. Just out of curiosity, she searched the papers for Yuka's name. She was in block A, along with Chisato. After contemplating a moment, Ryoko decided she was better off in block B.

...

After the rest of their classes (which they tried to pay attention to but failed), Ryoko and Noriko went straight back to the courts, like all the other second and third year girls of the club that were participating in the ranking matches. They even saw other boys and girls there that weren't part of the club but still wanted to watch the matches.

Ayame sat behind a desk next to the bulletin board, staring absent-mindedly at a few pieces of paper before her.

"Ayame-senpai?" Noriko asked. "What are you doing there?"

"Hey." Ayame shrugged, looking bored. "It can't be helped. One of the regulars that isn't playing has to stay here and record the results up on the board." She pointed to one of the pieces of paper on the table that looked like a schedule of matches. "You two should check to see when you have your matches."

"Ah! I have a match now with Hitomi-chan," Ryoko said after looking the paper over.

"And I have one with Rumiko-chan in a few minutes, on the court next to yours," Noriko said.

"You two should get going then," Ayame told them. "Oh, and if you see Keiko, tell her to come talk to me."

Noriko nodded. "No problem!"

...

Ryoko felt her heart racing as she stepped onto the court, racket in hand. She bid a quick 'Good luck' to Noriko before the girl went to go play her own match. Ryoko waited at courtside. She saw that the umpire was already in her seat, a girl whose name Ryoko was embarrassed to admit she'd forgotten. Noriko had introduced her to way too many people over the last week, especially at the first practice on Friday.

 _There sure are a lot of people,_ she thought, looking around. Ranking matches weren't something that happened every day, so they tended to draw a good crowd. She noted that many of the girls and boys watching weren't even part of the tennis club. Ryoko sighed. Why couldn't the courts be private?

When Ryoko saw Hitomi entering the court, she turned and made her way to the opposite baseline. When she turned back around, she saw that Hitomi had approached the net and was looking at her expectantly.

 _Oh yeah!_ Ryoko almost slapped her own forehead. _We shake hands first, and we have to decide who serves. Jeez, I'm so out of it!_ Already feeling herself blushing, Ryoko hastily made her way over to the net, shaking Hitomi's hand and apologizing.

Hitomi shook her head, chuckling. "Don't worry about it. Let's have a good game."

Ryoko nodded. "Yeah."

Hitomi placed her racket on the ground, and gave it a good spin. "Which?"

"Rough."

The racket came down with the 'M' upside down.

"One set match," the umpire announced, "Ryoko to serve."

After the two girls were in position, Ryoko served, and the match began. The two got some decent rallies in, but not too long after, Ryoko had won her serve game.

 _Hitomi-chan's fast, but not as fast as Noriko,_ Ryoko thought as she made her way to the other side of the court. _Noriko would have probably reached a lot of those winners._

Out of curiosity, Ryoko looked at the next court over. Noriko was running after a particularly long ball. Anybody else would probably not have reached it, but Noriko stretched her arm out and hit the ball back. The girl was even faster now that she wasn't in her school shoes, or rather, this was her normal speed. Before her return had even crossed to the other side of the court, Noriko ran up to the net and ended the point with her next shot.

"Ryoko-chan?" Ryoko heard a voice call. Hitomi was in serve position, waiting for Ryoko to pay attention so she could serve.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Ryoko bowed, feeling herself getting red again.

 _Yuka-senpai's serve is much more accurate,_ Ryoko thought as she pulled her arm back and returned Hitomi's next serve without any trouble. Hitomi hit the ball back, then approached the net. Ryoko saw the approach coming but hesitated. _I should lob it, but if I screw up the power it could go out...!_

She hit a drive shot to the left, but Hitomi reached out and hit the ball lightly back over to Ryoko's forecourt, winning the point.

Ryoko sighed, looking down at her racket as she moved to the next receiving position.

...

Outside the cage, three regulars were watching the match, unbeknownst to Ryoko. The first was Yuka Kiyomura, holding her blue racket under her arm. The second was the tall Mitsune Yonesima, who wore a frown of impatience. The last was Chisato Fukano, watching the match with an inquisitive expression.

"Have you noticed, Chisato?" Yuka asked, ponderingly.

"Yeah."

"Huh? Noticed what?" Mitsune asked.

"Ryoko-chan's holding back."

Mitsune looked at Ryoko again. The girl ran to the left, returning a ball with precision to the opposite corner, finishing the point off. She served a few moments later, and began rallying again.

"She is?" Mitsune shrugged. "Doesn't really look like it to me."

"No, she _is_ holding back," Chisato insisted. "She's hesitating on easy decisions. It looks like she isn't even aware, which would explain why it's hard to notice, but there's no doubt about it. Judging from her build, she can run faster _and_ hit harder than that."

Yuka smiled a little. _It's just like Chisato to figure it out that way. She knows more about nutrition and the body than anyone else on the team._

"She's almost like Yuka," Chisato said after a pause, "except Ryoko-chan's doing it subconsciously."

Mitsune looked at Ryoko for a few more shots, then shook her head.

"Whatever. I've got better things to do than stand around watching the newbie play." She turned around and walked away.

"Well," Chisato said, "either way, I'm afraid she's going to have to play better than that if she wants to become a regular."

Yuka narrowed her eyes, watching Ryoko intently.

...

A happy Noriko stopped in front of the bulletin board and desk, with a sullen Rumiko following in her stead.

"6-0 for me, Ayame-senpai!" Noriko announced to a bored-looking Ayame sitting behind the desk.

"Jeez, Noriko," Rumiko sighed, "my shots usually work, but you reach all of them."

Noriko just giggled as she watched Ayame stand up and write '6-0' in the Noriko vs. Rumiko box.

 _Well, that was the first step to becoming a regular. I just have to win three out of the four matches left over, and I'm there!_

She turned around, looking over at Ryoko's court. She was still playing, but it didn't seem like she was losing.

"Game and match, Tamiyo. Six games to love."

"Huh?" Noriko turned her head to the court in front of her. She walked closer and saw Junko, the girl who had come close to becoming a regular the previous year, on her knees on the court, breathing heavily. On the other side of the court stood a girl not much taller than herself, yawning and rubbing her eyes, looking for all the world like she had just woken up.

Noriko's eyes widened. _Junko-senpai lost 6-0? No way! Who is that girl?_


	5. The Sleepy Girl

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 5: The Sleepy Girl

...

"Speak of the devil, there she is," Noriko said as soon as she and Ryoko sat down at an empty table in the school cafeteria. Ryoko followed Noriko's look and saw Keiko dodging and twirling past people, practically running in their direction. This wasn't uncommon with Keiko, but this time she was holding a tray of food in her hands.

"Keiko-chan has to be more careful," Ryoko said, watching the girl almost bump into someone.

"Eh, she'll be all right."

Just as Keiko was making the last turn at the table next to theirs, she stepped on a loose shoelace and began to fall forward. Ryoko saw this as soon as it happened and quickly stood up, but Keiko was on the other side of the table; Ryoko couldn't reach her in time. Ryoko cringed as she watched Keiko, tray in hand, plummet to the floor.

Except she didn't hit the floor. The red-haired girl took one hand off her tray and put it on the ground in front of her. The momentum made her body twist forward until she was upside down, balancing herself and the tray. After a few seconds, she slowly let herself fall back into a standing position. When Keiko sat down and placed her tray on the table, it was miraculously in perfect condition.

"Told ya," Noriko said.

"Phew, that was a close one. Tee-hee!" Keiko's tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth. Everybody in the vicinity was staring at Keiko with dumbfounded expressions. Everyone except Noriko, that is, who was calmly opening her lunchbox.

Ryoko sat back down, sighing in relief. "Does that happen often?" she asked Noriko, a drop of sweat sliding down her face.

Noriko shrugged. "That wasn't the first time, I'll tell you that."

Keiko's tray was very close to being a full-course meal. Noriko took one look at it and grinned.

"Let me guess," she said, "your match with your sister is today?"

Keiko shook her head. "Wrongo! It's tomorrow, but I'm already getting ready."

Ryoko giggled. "We see that."

"Oh! I forgot to ask you two," Keiko said, her mouth already full, "How did your matches go yesterday?"

Noriko made a 'V' with her index and middle finger, beaming. "I won 6-0."

"I won 6-0, too," Ryoko said.

Keiko thrust her arm in the air. "So did I! Yay, so we all won!" She gasped suddenly. "Oh yeah!" Keiko's eyes opened wide, "Aya said someone beat Junko-senpai 6-0 yesterday! That's a surprise, since Aya said Junko-senpai was one win short of becoming a regular last year."

"Yep." Noriko pondered for a moment. "I think her name was Tamiyo. I don't know her, she's new."

"Tamiyo?" Ryoko asked, brow furrowing.

"Hmm." Keiko crossed her arms, thinking, "Oh, Tamiyo! Tamiyo Nishinaka, that's right! Yeah, she's a transfer student like Ryoko. She's in my class."

Noriko raised an eyebrow. "Eh? Really? What's she like?"

"Well, all she does is sleep in class, actually. I've never talked to her."

"To think that she would beat Junko-senpai just like that." Noriko looked at Ryoko, noticing her serious look. "Huh? What's wrong, Ryoko?"

"Tamiyo... is my opponent today."

...

Ayame and Chisato stood in front of Court A, chatting idly. The number of people around that day was lower than the previous day. Of course, the busiest days were the first, when things were fresh and just starting, and the last day or two, when the regulars are finally being decided.

In Ayame's opinion, today held no matches that really stood out. However, Chisato and Yuka had shown a peculiar interest in Ryoko's match, and had suggested she come watch with them. Ayame didn't have a preference, so she decided to tag along. She asked the captain, who also wasn't playing, to take the table so she could go watch. Sakura agreed, and here Ayame was, talking with Chisato while they waited for Ryoko to arrive.

Yuka wound up having a match at the same time, so she was playing at the moment. Mitsune wasn't playing, but wasn't anywhere in sight. Ayame noticed Junko and two of her friends looking on, as well.

 _Junko must not have taken her loss well,_ Ayame thought. _She was really set on becoming a regular this year, and losing before even facing Mitsune really hinders her chances._

"Ayaaa!"

Ayame closed her eyes, sighing. _Then again, there are lots of people set on becoming regulars this year..._

Chisato turned to see Keiko running towards them, with Ryoko and Noriko trailing behind her. "Hi you three!" she said, waving at them.

Keiko reached them and bowed deeply to Chisato. "Greetings, Chisato-senpai-sama."

Chisato laughed. Keiko turned to Ayame.

"Aya, it's tomorrow!"

"Yes, chibi, our match is tomorrow," she said flatly. "Your match today is right now, though."

Keiko took a step back, surprised. "Eh? Really?"

Ayame facepalmed. "Yes! Jeez Kei, be more responsible."

"Ahh! What court? I still gotta get my racket!"

"Court C."

Keiko ran off just as Ryoko and Noriko were reaching them.

"What happened?" Noriko asked.

"Keiko-chan's forgetful," Chisato said amidst giggles.

Ayame looked at Ryoko. The girl's eyes were darting anxiously around the court, as if looking for someone. After shrugging because she didn't understand what Chisato meant, Noriko looked at Ryoko and noticed, too.

"Hey, Ryoko." Noriko waved her hand in front of Ryoko's face, getting her attention. "Relax, okay? You'll do fine." She put a hand on her shoulder. "You're going to win. Right?"

Ryoko nodded shyly. "Yeah..."

"That's right. Now go get her."

"Good luck, Ryoko-chan," Chisato said with a smile.

"Good luck," said Ayame.

Ryoko smiled at them and bowed in thanks, then took a deep breath and entered the cage. She stood by the umpire's chair, waiting for her opponent to arrive.

"Yeah, but... where is she?" Chisato asked.

"There she is, right there," Keiko – suddenly there again – said, pointing to a girl lying down in one corner of the cage with her eyes closed, a tennis bag over her stomach.

Chisato and Noriko jumped in surprise, and even Ayame looked at her quickly.

"Kei?" Ayame exclaimed. "What are you doing here? You have a match now!"

Keiko waved her red racket in front of Ayame. "I got my racket now, I just forgot the court."

"Jeez, it's Court C."

"Okay!" Keiko ran off again.

Ayame shook her head. Chisato giggled again.

"Tamiyo-san!" the umpire called. "Tamiyo-san! Please get in position to start the match."

The three turned back to the court. The umpire looked annoyed as she regarded the girl Keiko had pointed to. Hearing her name, the girl stirred. The tennis bag on her stomach fell over to the side as she sat up, yawning.

"She was sleeping?" one of the girls standing next to Junko commented.

"She did the same thing yesterday," Junko grumbled. "She was yawning almost the whole match, too."

"How rude."

Tamiyo stretched her arms. "I'm coming, I'm coming." After fetching a black racket from her bag, she finally stood up and began walking towards the umpire.

Ryoko and Chisato were seeing her for the first time. Tamiyo was about Ryoko's height. She had black hair that reached just past her shoulders and was tied back in a single ponytail, and gray, somewhat bloodshot eyes that were half-closed as if she was about to fall asleep where she stood.

Tamiyo reached the umpire's chair and let out a big yawn. She looked at Ryoko for a moment, then said: "Are you that Yoko that I'm playing?"

"I'm Ryoko."

"Oh, right, whatever." Tamiyo waved it off. "I hope you're more interesting to play than that Shunko from yesterday."

"That girl..." Ayame, Chisato and Noriko heard Junko mutter.

"Does she not have any manners?" Noriko muttered, crossing her arms.

"Please decide who serves," the umpire said.

"You can serve first," Tamiyo said, and started walking to the closest baseline.

Ryoko just stood there, caught off-guard.

"Are you sure?" the umpire asked.

"Positive."

The umpire shrugged. Ryoko started making her way to the other side of the court.

"What's with that Tamiyo?" Noriko pondered.

"She's an interesting one, all right." Yuka – suddenly standing beside the other three – said.

Chisato and Noriko really jumped back in surprise this time, and Ayame's head bolted around.

"Man, why does everyone keep sneaking up on us?" Noriko exclaimed.

Chisato and Ayame, however, looked astonished rather than annoyed or surprised.

"Yuka," Chisato started, "your match...?"

Noriko then noticed that Yuka was a bit sweaty. Had she been playing? But the first matches of the day were just starting!

"You won in five minutes?" Ayame asked, mouth agape.

"I wanted to see Ryoko-chan's match," Yuka said simply, smiling at them.

None of them had anything else to say to that, so they all just turned back to the court in front of them where Ryoko was getting ready to serve to a still sleepy-looking Tamiyo.

"A match between the two newcomers," Yuka said, almost as if to herself. "This is something worth watching. Who has more potential, I wonder?"

Ryoko served. The ball landed in the middle of the service box, where Tamiyo had ease returning it. Ryoko reached the ball and hit a cross court shot, which Tamiyo also returned. Ryoko saw that Tamiyo's shot would bounce close to her, so she got in position to hit a strong corner shot to try to finish off the point.

Ryoko swung forward as the ball bounced. Her form was perfect, or at least, it would have been if the ball had bounced the way she'd predicted. Instead of bouncing normally, the ball bounced a little to the left, closer to her body. She twisted the racket down at the last second, but the ball hit the racket rather than the other way around and slowly floated forward, stopping at the net.

"0-15!"

Ryoko looked down at her racket while she walked to the next serve position. How had she miscalculated the bounce of the ball?

"Aw, Ryoko," Noriko whispered, "don't make silly mistakes like that."

Yuka glanced at Noriko, then turned back to Tamiyo. She narrowed her eyes.

The next point started much like the last. After a few shots, Tamiyo hit a ball to Ryoko's backhand. The girl got in position to return it, but this time the ball bounced farther away than she had predicted. She gasped, stretching her arm out, but again was only successful in hitting it with the rim of the racket. The ball didn't pass the net.

"0-30!"

Ryoko felt herself start to blush. As she walked to her next serve position, she snuck peeks at the people watching the match, wondering what they were thinking. _What's wrong with me? I can't even hit the ball right!_

Chisato commented, "Uh-oh. Ryoko-chan's getting flustered."

Meanwhile, her opponent was oblivious to all of that, and was instead in the middle of a long yawn. When she was done with that, she rubbed her eyes and waved at Ryoko.

"Hey, this is boring," Tamiyo said, "Play better."

Ryoko looked at her with wide eyes for just a moment before lowering her head and blushing even more.

Noriko frowned at Tamiyo. "That little..."

Ryoko served. The ball hit the cord of the net before dropping into the service box.

"Let!"

Ryoko looked at her feet, sighing. She thought she heard murmuring among the people watching.

She got another ball and served again. This time the serve went in, but it wasn't as strong as her previous ones. Ryoko began rallying with Tamiyo again.

"Hey, Yuka-senpai."

"Yes, Noriko-chan?"

"You said before that Tamiyo was 'an interesting one'? What did you mean by that?"

"Well, Tamiyo-chan is a transfer student like Ryoko-chan, but she's not from just any school." Yuka looked at Noriko, though Ayame and Chisato were also paying attention. "Tamiyo-chan transferred over from Itoguruma Gakuen."

"Itoguruma, eh?" Ayame's eyes widened.

"Itoguruma?" Noriko asked.

"One of the strongest girls' tennis teams in the Kantou region," Yuka explained, "The second best in the Kanagawa prefecture. From what I've heard, their practices are much more serious than ours."

As soon as those words had left her mouth, the three saw the ball hit the net.

"0-40!"

Noriko gripped the cage. "Aww. What's up with Ryoko? This is not like her."

"She seems a little out of it," Chisato agreed.

Less than a minute later, the umpire called out: "Game, Tamiyo. One game to love. Change court."

"Aww, another net ball!" Noriko sulked. "Love game..."

Ryoko bowed her head, walking to the other side of the court. When Tamiyo passed by her side, Ryoko saw her yawning again. _How embarrassing. I lost my service game without getting any points, and Tamiyo-san isn't even fully awake..._

Ayame had a neutral expression on like usual, but while Chisato and Noriko looked worried for their friend, Yuka seemed unbothered.

"I wonder how long Tamiyo-chan will hold the lead," Yuka mused.

The other three looked at her.

"Yuka?" Chisato said uncertainly, "Things aren't really looking that great for Ryoko-chan."

 _She may not start at 100% but I can tell Ryoko-chan doesn't like to lose,_ Yuka thought, narrowing her eyes at Tamiyo. _How far will Tamiyo-chan push her...?_

Tamiyo and Ryoko got in their positions to start the second game. Tamiyo tossed the ball up and prepared to serve, but wound up not swinging her racket. She stood frozen while the ball fell back to the ground. No one watching understood.

"What's she doing?" Noriko asked, raising an eyebrow. Beside her, Chisato shrugged.

Tamiyo kept facing up a few seconds. When she finally faced down, they saw she was yawning. The yawn was a long one, and she hunched over a bit, covering her mouth with her free hand.

Noriko's mouth fell open. "She was... yawning?"

After long seconds, Tamiyo moved to pick the ball back up. She returned to the serve position, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Giving a sleepy peek over at Ryoko, she finally tossed the ball up and served.

The ball was well-placed, near the bottom-right corner of the service box. Still, Ryoko reached it and hit a straight shot close to the corner of the other baseline.

 _Yes! That was a good return shot!_ Ryoko thought.

Ryoko thought the point had practically been won, so she only started moving again when Tamiyo just barely reached her return. She didn't want to lose the point she had been so close to winning, so Ryoko ran after the ball with all her might, diving for it. Her racket hit it just barely, sending it lightly back towards the net. It hit the cord of the net, floating in the air mere moments before falling over into Tamiyo's court.

"0-15!"

Tamiyo stared at the ball for a second, then just shrugged it off. Ryoko got up and dusted herself off. There was a small smile creeping up on her face.

"Well, it's a start," Chisato said.

Tamiyo served again. It was just as well-placed but Ryoko's return wasn't. The two rallied normally until, after several shots, Ryoko sent another ball to the net.

"15-15!"

"Aw, man." Noriko groaned, gripping the cage. "Back to net balls?"

Ryoko sighed. _Same as before, I can't hit the ball correctly._ She looked down at her racket as she walked to the next position. _It can't be me, can it? I've done this thousands of times. Why would I be screwing up now?_ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some people chatting. Were they talking about her and her mistakes, she wondered? Ryoko felt herself blush a little. _Everyone is probably expecting me to lose at this point..._

"What are you doing, Ryoko? You can beat her!"

The shout surprised Ryoko. She looked over at the source: Noriko, fitting her with a serious look.

 _That's right, Noriko-chan believes in me. I need to believe in myself, too!_

When Ryoko crouched down to receive the next serve, she seemed more determined.

Yuka chuckled, noticing the look. "It seems like that was the jump-start she needed."

"Well, I'll tell you one thing," Tamiyo started before pausing for a quick yawn, "playing like you are now, you'll never beat me."

Ryoko narrowed her eyes. Tamiyo served.

 _The only thing that can change a ball's bounce on a hard court is spin,_ Ryoko thought as she swung her racket, returning Tamiyo's serve. _That has to be it._ _She must be putting spin on the ball._ _I just have to figure out how to counter it!_

Tamiyo reached the ball and prepared to hit a forehand shot. Ryoko watched her movements closely as Tamiyo hit the shot to Ryoko's left. She ran after it, but it bounced further to the left. Ryoko didn't reach it.

"30-15!"

After Tamiyo's serve on the next point, Ryoko hit the ball to Tamiyo's backhand. Again Ryoko observed her movements as Tamiyo easily returned the ball with a backhand shot. Once more, her return stopped at the net after Tamiyo's shot bounced a little more to the right than expected.

"40-15!"

"She's hitting the ball awkwardly," Ayame said.

One more point in the same manner and...

"Game, Tamiyo. Two games to love."

Noriko ruffled her hair. "Aw, come on! I know she can do better! What's up with her?"

Yuka smiled. "Look again, Noriko."

"Huh?" Noriko looked at Ryoko, unexpectedly finding a grin on her face.

 _Has she figured it out?_ Yuka wondered.

Ryoko was ready to serve, but Tamiyo started walking off towards her tennis bag on the other side of the court.

"Tamiyo-san," the umpire called out, "where are you going? You can't leave in the middle of the match."

Tamiyo waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, I'm just going to change my racket." She reached down and pulled another black racket out of the bag, putting the one she was using inside of it. "No sense in wearing down a new racket on such a weak opponent."

"Stop provoking your opponent and get into position, Tamiyo-san!" the umpire demanded.

Noriko, Chisato, Ayame and Yuka heard Junko say something to her friends with a displeased face. Tamiyo had probably made the same comment the day before against her.

"Yeah, yeah." Tamiyo got up, stifled a yawn and began walking back to her position. "How I would have liked to face the captain, though. Maybe then I could have had a challenge."

At that moment, Tamiyo passed in front of them. Noriko probably would have said something if someone else hadn't beaten her to it.

"You know," Yuka spoke up, "the captain isn't the only strong one in this school."

Tamiyo stopped and shot her a look. "And you are?"

Yuka shrugged, smiling. "No one important."

Tamiyo stared at her for a few seconds before giving her a scornful chuckle and making her way back to the receiving position.

Ayame turned her head to Yuka. She never bragged, so who exactly was she talking about? Ryoko?

"Ayame," Yuka said, "keep your eyes on the match. It's about to get interesting."


	6. Margin of Error

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 6: Margin of Error

...

Ryoko's eyes were focused on the small yellow ball in her hand as her mind played back and analyzed Tamiyo's form. Finally, with a decided look, she tossed the ball up and served. Tamiyo returned the serve and they rallied.

 _Okay, now to end it,_ Tamiyo thought with boredom, hitting a forehand cross court shot.

 _There!_ Ryoko ran after the ball, but instead of stopping where she'd normally stop, she took an extra step forward. The ball bounced more to the left, and now in perfect position Ryoko hit a precise shot to the corner opposite of Tamiyo, who wouldn't have reached it even if she tried.

For the first time, Tamiyo's eyes opened wide.

"15-0!"

Ryoko smiled, looked down, and made a shy celebratory fist. _Yes!_

"Yeah, that's the way to do it!" Noriko exclaimed.

"It seems as if she's figured it out," Yuka said.

"Eh? Figured what out?" Noriko asked.

"The trick to Tamiyo-chan's shots."

"Trick?"

The next point started. After a few balls, Ayame spoke.

"Now that you mention it..."

Noriko looked back and forth between Yuka, Ayame and the match. "I don't understand."

Ryoko was running after a ball but she stopped one step before where she'd normally stop...

Noriko raised an eyebrow. "She's stopping too far away—"

...but the ball bounced, twisting towards her and leaving itself in the perfect distance for Ryoko to hit a finishing cross court shot.

"30-0!"

"Spin," Yuka said. "Tamiyo-chan subtly puts a lot of spin on some of her shots, making their bounce irregular."

"Oh!" Noriko gripped the cage, following Tamiyo's movements with her eyes. "That's why Ryoko was having trouble hitting the ball properly."

"So Ryoko-chan is adjusting her positioning because of the irregular bounce," Chisato said approvingly. After a moment, she turned to Yuka. "Wait, you've known this all along? Why didn't you say anything?"

Yuka shrugged, saying innocently: "No one asked."

"40-0!"

Ryoko had soon served again. Another rally began, with Ryoko's shots clearly more energetic now.

 _I've got the pattern down! The stronger spin that changes the bounce of the ball is a little more noticeable than the rest. She's a righty, so when she hits a forehand shot, it twists to my left, and when she hits a backhand shot, it twists to my right.'_

Tamiyo hit a forehand shot. The shot was well-placed, but Ryoko reached it and...

"Game, Ryoko. Tamiyo leads two games to one. Change court."

Ryoko could hear Noriko doing some light cheering for her when she started making her way to the other side of the court. Then she saw Tamiyo was going to pass by her side in front of the umpire's chair. She averted her eyes, but as they passed each other Ryoko felt a hand grab her shoulder. The first thing that came to her mind was that Tamiyo was mad. Ryoko looked up anxiously, but found that Tamiyo was smiling.

"That's it, Ryoko! Keep it up!" she said excitedly, "It's more fun this way!"

"Eh..." Noriko raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "It's like she's happier when she's losing?"

"She's not losing yet," Yuka said, "but it's no longer one-sided. She must just not like easy matches."

The two on the court continued making their way to their respective positions, but not before Tamiyo flashed Ryoko a thumbs up. "Let's keep it up, okay?"

Ryoko, befuddled by Tamiyo's change of attitude, nodded shyly.

Tamiyo started her service game, but Ryoko, now playing normally because of her positioning, took it and the next.

"Game, Ryoko. Ryoko leads three games to two. Change court."

"Looks like I'm going to need my new racket after all!" Tamiyo exclaimed, sprinting to her tennis bag. She switched rackets and quickly went to the next position, tennis ball in hand. "I'm gonna go all out from now on, okay? Try to keep up!"

Ryoko gripped her racket tighter and got ready to receive the next serve. _I can do this. I can win!_

"Just three more games and Ryoko wins!" Noriko cheered happily.

"Hm, but Tamiyo-chan said she's going to go all out," Chisato said. She tapped her chin, thoughtful. "She seems really hyped up now. I wonder if she has a trump card."

"Nah, she must be bluffing!" Noriko waved it off.

Indeed, if Ryoko was now confident, Tamiyo was just as much. After serving, she rallied, running after the ball as if she was finally fully awake. She seemed to be swinging with more energy, and she was smiling. Ryoko was apparently keeping up with no problems, though.

"See?" Noriko said. "Nothing's changed."

As soon as Noriko had spoken, Tamiyo suddenly stopped running, almost as if she had given up on the point. However, the ball that Ryoko hit landed slightly out of the court.

"Out! 15-0!"

"Out?" Noriko's mouth dropped open.

Ryoko was looking down at her racket, also confused. She was pretty sure she hadn't screwed up the shot.

"Ah, don't mind, Ryoko!" Noriko exclaimed. "Just a little mistake, don't get hung up over it!"

The next point started and ended in very much the same manner. Then in the point after that, one of Ryoko's shots wound up close to the center of the court, where Tamiyo had ease in putting it away.

"40-0!"

Ryoko frowned and sighed, looking down at her racket and idly fingering the strings. She had felt since the beginning of the match that all of Tamiyo's shots had some spin on them, but they didn't have much effect, aside from the more obvious stronger ones that changed the kick of the ball. Now, however, all of the spins had gotten stronger.

"So she _did_ have a trump card?" Chisato pondered.

Noriko looked a little worried again. "Spin?"

Chisato nodded. "It seems like it. She's strengthened them, I guess. It's throwing off Ryoko-chan's shots again."

"Come on, Ryoko!" Tamiyo shouted, throwing the tennis ball in her left hand in the air.

Noriko just stared at Tamiyo. "It's like she's a whole other person now."

Tamiyo served, and the two girls on Court A rallied furiously. Ryoko felt her shots were having their courses slightly altered by the spin Tamiyo was applying. Knowing this, Ryoko tried to avoid hitting shots near the line. The result, though, was that her shots wound up close to the middle of the court, where they were offering more threat to her than to Tamiyo by giving Tamiyo winner opportunities. She had to try a middle ground.

When Ryoko got a good chance, she aimed her shot in the middle of the service box. Tamiyo started moving before she had even hit the ball, though. The shot landed exactly where Tamiyo was, and she hit a corner shot with ease that Ryoko wasn't able to reach.

"Game, Tamiyo. Three games all."

 _I can't hit my shots accurately, yet it seems like she knows exactly where they'll end up._ Ryoko thought as she walked to the next position. _Has she mastered spins so thoroughly?_

Ryoko paused a few seconds, bouncing the tennis ball a few times on the court.

"Let's keep the pace going, Ryoko!" Tamiyo yelled, waving over to her. "Serve!"

Ryoko looked up at her opponent briefly. Tamiyo was beaming, and despite the way she had acted at the beginning of the match, she now seemed to genuinely be having fun. Seeing Tamiyo having so much fun playing made Ryoko smile, too. Ryoko nodded, and soon the ball had left her hand.

Ryoko had entered the match deathly nervous of facing and losing to this new girl that had beaten a third-year player by 6-0. The eyes of all the onlookers had bothered her at first, never leaving the corner of her eyes or the back of her mind, but once Ryoko started being drawn into the match, she forgot all of that.

 _She can have so much fun playing tennis... but I can, too._ Ryoko flexed her knees, moving her body in perfect form to send a potent serve to Tamiyo's service box. _And if she can hit those spins, I can counter them!_

The two continued to play the points, both putting their all into it. They were both visibly sweaty, but neither girl showed signs of fatigue. Neither one slowed the pace nor backed down from chasing any of the shots. Both were winning points, and although Ryoko started off losing more, they were slowly evening out. She was able to win her service game, making the score 4-3, but Tamiyo won the next, tying again at 4-4.

"Tamiyo-chan's a skilled player," Chisato commented during the ninth game.

"Yeah, but Ryoko is playing well, too," Ayame said.

"Of course she is," Noriko said, not taking her eyes off of the match, "She's going to win!"

 _In order to neutralize her spins, I have to hit the ball with the opposite spin._ Ryoko ran to the left, hitting a cross court shot. _If it's a leftwards spin, I have to hit it with a rightwards spin, and vice-versa._ Tamiyo returned her shot. Ryoko ran after the ball, reaching it and hitting a deep, straight shot, hoping to catch Tamiyo on her back foot.

 _I have to use my forehand when she does, and my backhand when she does. So unless she hits a straight shot, I have to run more, but it's the best option._ Tamiyo saw Ryoko's intention and was able to reach her shot, hitting a backhand shot to the opposite corner.

 _The way it was before, my margin of error was something like 75%, but now it's back down to normal!_ Ryoko ran after the ball. She reached it at the last second and with a forehand shot sent the ball deep to Tamiyo's baseline, right on the line.

Ryoko fist-pumped, exclaiming: "Yes!"

Tamiyo laughed. "Wow. That was a nice shot!"

"Yeeaah, Ryoko!" Noriko cheered, jumping happily.

Soon, Ryoko had won the ninth game, making the score 5-4, and was on her way to taking the tenth game, Tamiyo's service game, and closing the match. She hit one more ball practically on the line and...

"15-40! Match point!"

Tamiyo got to the next serving position and stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Like Ryoko, she was smiling. She was losing, but the game was fun, completely different from the match Tamiyo had had the day before.

Outside the cage, Ayame stirred. "I see why Junko lost so badly to this girl."

Noriko asked, "What do you mean, Ayame-sempai?"

Smiling, Yuka responded, sharing Ayame's thoughts: "Tamiyo-chan's play style puts a lot of pressure on the opponent's confidence. If her opponent isn't strong-willed, if they don't adapt well, or if they're stubborn like Junko, they crumble under the weight of their own mistakes."

Ryoko waited anxiously for Tamiyo to serve. If she won this point, the match was hers.

Tamiyo finally served, and Ryoko was on it, returning the serve down-the-line. Tamiyo managed to reach it and hit it back, but Ryoko didn't have to run much to hit the next shot.

When Tamiyo hit the ball again, Ryoko saw through her technique. Ryoko ran after the ball, but stopped one step further than normal. The ball bounced to exactly where she was. With one final shot, the ball flew towards the corner opposite of Tamiyo, only hitting the ground again after it had hit the back of the cage.

Noriko let out a cheer as the umpire called: "Game and match, Ryoko. Six games to four."

The two players walked towards the center of the court amidst a good number of cheers from all of the people watching (which Ryoko was just beginning to notice again, making her blush). They shook hands over the net, both tired but smiling.

"You started off kind of slow, but you're really good, Ryoko-san! Today's match was a lot more fun than yesterday's!"

Ryoko's smile grew. She lowered her head shyly. "Thanks. You're good, too."

Outside the cage, Noriko crossed her arms again, looking thoughtful. "'Ryoko- _san_ '? That's the first time I've heard her use an honorific."

Tamiyo headed over to her tennis bag at the far corner of the court while Ryoko walked over to her friends outside of the cage. When she approached, Noriko first hugged her tightly, then took a step back, made a fist and beamed.

"Congrats, Ryoko! You did it!"

"Yes, congratulations," Chisato said warmly.

Behind them, Ayame and Yuka were smiling as well.

"Seee, I told ya, Ryoko!" Noriko said, "We're going to make it to regulars, girl!"

Ryoko smiled back, enjoying her victory and her friend's enthusiasm.

They saw Keiko turn a corner then, running towards them, racket in hand and covered in sweat. She approached them and stopped to catch her breath before speaking.

"I missed the match?" she whined, disappointed. "I tried to finish mine as fast as possible so that I could come see it." Then she suddenly opened a smile again. "Who won?"

Noriko put her arm around Ryoko's shoulders, grinning. "Ryoko. What about you?"

Keiko puffed her chest out in pride. "I won, too."

Just then, Tamiyo stepped out of the court, her tennis bag slung over her shoulder, sipping water through a straw from her water bottle. She paused in front of the group, looking at Ryoko. Keiko immediately took notice of the water bottle and bowed low before Tamiyo.

"Tamiyo-chan-sama! Would you honor me with a sip or three of your most holiest of waters?"

Only after two seconds did Tamiyo look at Keiko, as if she only then realized she had been spoken to. She frowned at Keiko and said: "And you are?" But before Keiko could even respond, she turned back to Ryoko, "Let's play again sometime, okay, Ryoko-san?" Then she promptly started past the group, down towards the path that led out of the school.

Ryoko nodded. "O-Okay."

Keiko looked after Tamiyo, her mouth wide open for several seconds. She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at Tamiyo, though the girl had her back turned and couldn't see. "Meanie!"

Ryoko, Noriko, and Chisato couldn't help but snicker.

After they chatted a little more, Ayame and Chisato left to warm up for their own matches that day while Keiko went straight home. Noriko also had a match then, but she first accompanied Ryoko as the girl reported her win over Tamiyo to the captain, who scribbled the match's result on the board. The captain then switched places with Yuka at the table so that she could go play her own match. After Sakura had left and Yuka sat down, she looked to Noriko.

"I'd go watch your match too, Noriko-chan, but..."

"I understand, Yuka-senpai. It's no problem. But you—!" She turned to Ryoko, smiling. "I cheered for you, so now you have to cheer for me, okay?"

Ryoko nodded. "Okay!"

Noriko was soon playing, and although Ryoko didn't actually cheer out loud for her (as both of them had known from the start she wouldn't), Noriko was glad that her friend was watching. In the end, she played a great match, besting her opponent with a score of 6-0.

They all won their matches that day, and they were all satisfied and comfortable with their results so far. They went home that Tuesday relaxed, only to start thinking about their next match when the following day came.

All except for Keiko. As she walked home that day, despite having just won her second match, her mind was already on another one. It was the only thing on her mind, something she had been thinking about ever since the matches had been revealed one day earlier.

The match with her sister the next day.


	7. The Big Day

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 7: The Big Day

...

Keiko was lying on her bed in the bedroom she shared with her sister, wearing her floral pajamas. She was throwing a tennis ball at the wall so that it hit and bounced back to her. She'd been doing it for over a minute already and the recurring noise probably would have already annoyed the heck out of anyone else, but Ayame didn't seem to mind.

Her sister was sitting at the desk on the other side of the room, beside her own bed, quietly reading a book Keiko didn't recognize. Keiko knew that when Ayame started reading a book she really liked it was like her mind was off in another dimension.

But that didn't really say much about the other people in the house. Not long after, a woman's voice sounded from the other side of their room's door: "Please stop that, Keiko."

Keiko sat up and looked at the door, pointing at Ayame with the hand that still held the tennis ball. "It's not me, it's Aya!"

The door opened then, and their mother's head poked in, frowning at Keiko.

Ayame looked at her mom and shrugged, then looked at Keiko. "Chibi, if you want to try to put the blame on me, don't do it with the tennis ball in your hand."

The woman repeated: "Please stop, okay, honey?" She left and closed the door behind her.

Ayame returned to reading her book. Keiko stopped throwing the ball at the wall and instead began throwing it up in the air and catching it over and over. Eventually, she threw it a little too far to the side, and it bounced heavily on top of the television. Ayame looked back at her disapprovingly.

"Settle down."

"I caaan't!" Keiko whined, standing up and fetching the tennis ball. "I was hitting shots outside but mom told me to come in!"

"Well, it _is_ nine o'clock at night."

"But stiiill..."

"What about videogames?" Ayame suggested.

Keiko perked up. "You wanna play with me?"

Ayame shook her head, showing Keiko the book she was reading. "Not now, sorry."

Keiko sighed, sprawling out on her bed. "Reading is boring."

Ayame shrugged. "Just play a single-player game. You do it almost every day, anyway."

"I don't feel like it."

"Don't you have homework to do?"

"I don't feel like doing homework today. Homework is boring."

"Well, what _do_ you feel like doing?"

"Tennis."

"Well, only one thing you can do, then." Ayame turned back to her book. "Wait for tomorrow."

"Waiting is boring."

"Don't worry. We'll have our match before you know it."

Keiko lifted her head off the bed to look at Ayame, but she had her back towards her. Still, she had hit the nail right on the head. The next day was Wednesday, the third day of the Seigaku girls' tennis club's ranking matches, and the day that Keiko would face her sister in their first official match. Ayame sounded calm about it. Actually, she hadn't once shown anxiousness concerning their match. Keiko, on the other hand, had been anxious since finding out about it two days earlier.

Keiko felt a strong urge to start throwing the ball at the wall again, but resisted it because she didn't want to get scolded. She couldn't resist staying still, though, so she started throwing it up in the air again.

Sure, her sister was a regular member, not to mention the vice-captain of the team, but she could beat her! Tomorrow would be different, Keiko was sure of it! She would win, even if she had to saw her sister's legs off!

Keiko stuck her tongue out. _Well, okay, maybe I wouldn't go that far._ Suddenly, the image of her sister with two peg legs, wearing a pirate's attire and an eyepatch, and running around a tennis court using a purple parrot as a tennis racket popped into her mind. Keiko immediately burst out laughing.

When the laughing did not stop after several seconds, Ayame turned and raised an eyebrow, seeing her sister rolling around on the bed. "What's so funny?"

As Keiko's laughter finally came to an end, she sat up on her bed and looked at her sister. She said: "Arrr matey!" and the hilarious image invaded her mind again, throwing her back into a fit of laughter.

Ayame shook her head, shrugged, and resumed her reading once more, "Sometimes I think you're crazy, chibi."

...

Classes seemed to take forever the next day. When the bell finally rang, signifying the start of recess, the students of Junior Class 3 got up almost in unison and began to shuffle out of the classroom in groups of friends.

Ryoko walked out into the hall with Noriko, but stopped when she noticed her friend standing on her tiptoes, looking the other way.

"Noriko-chan? What's wrong?"

"I think I saw Keiko."

"Keiko-chan? She's not coming this way?"

"That's the thing, it looks like she went the other way. It's weird for her not to come running up to us."

"Oh." Ryoko tilted her head to the side. "Maybe it's because of the match with her sister today..."

"Hm. That must be it." Noriko nodded. "All right. I'm going to go look for her."

"I'll go with you."

...

Keiko was nervous. She didn't know why it had taken her this long to get nervous, though, considering she had known about the match since Monday. Maybe it had only really dawned on her that morning when she had taken her racket in hand while she was getting ready in her room, and she saw, on the other side of the room, her sister holding her own.

Keiko had left the classroom at recess and gone directly to the roof of the school. It was usually where you went when you wanted to be alone, and though that common knowledge didn't make it a dependable 'hiding place', Keiko doubted any of her friends would suspect that she wanted to be alone. Even Keiko found it strange.

 _Why be nervous?_ _There's nothing to be nervous about. I'm gonna win! She'll see!_

Still, she sighed and gripped the railing, looking out over the Seishun Gakuen grounds. The red-headed girl drew in a deep breath and sighed again. She stayed there for several minutes in silence before she heard footsteps approaching her.

"Keiko," she heard Noriko's voice say.

Keiko looked behind her to see Noriko and Ryoko approaching. So much for hiding place. Keiko smiled, though it wasn't the bright smile she usually wore. "Hi, Noriko. Hi, Ryoko."

"'Hi, Noriko'?" Noriko asked, incredulous. "No 'Greetings, Noriko-dono' or 'Salutations, Ryoko-chan-sama'?"

Keiko just stared at her. She was right, that was what she usually said, but it hadn't even passed through her mind just then.

"Are you nervous, Keiko?"

Keiko's reaction was instinctive: she turned towards Noriko, making a V with each hand and winking. "Of course not! Me, nervous? Ha!"

Noriko and Ryoko glanced at each other, clearly not convinced. Noriko smiled and placed a hand on Keiko's shoulder.

"Hey, have you stopped to think that maybe your sister's anxious about the match, too?"

Keiko didn't reply at first. She put her hands behind her head, stretching her arms and looking up at the cloudless sky.

"No she's not," Keiko responded finally. "She's super calm, like always."

"Sometimes appearances can be deceiving, you know."

"Doubt it. I think even if the sky was falling Aya would be calm about it." Keiko said, still looking at the sky. She shrugged and looked back down at Noriko. "But whatever. If she's anxious or not, it doesn't matter. I'm gonna win! Win win win!" She fist pumped and began hopping circles around Noriko.

"Now that's the Keiko I know." Noriko laughed. "Well, are you going to come down? I want to eat before recess ends, you know!"

"Yeah!"

The three began making their way back to the door leading down. Keiko broke into a jog. When she was about to reach the door she accidentally stepped on a loose shoelace and tumbled forward. Normally, she would have put her hands on the ground and performed some wildly unnecessary acrobatic maneuver to avoid injury, but she fumbled and awkwardly tried to stop her fall with her hands, only succeeding in banging her elbow and knee on the ground.

"Owie," Keiko murmured. She stood up, quickly making a V with her hand to the other two girls, who looked at her with a worried expressions.

"Are you okay, Keiko-chan?" Ryoko asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine! No biggie!"

Keiko turned around and continued making her way towards the door, slower this time.

"You should really tie your shoe, Keiko-chan," Ryoko said behind her. Keiko exclaimed an agreement, but kept going, saying something about tying it later.

 _One thing Keiko isn't is clumsy,_ Noriko thought, frowning. _She's more nervous than she's letting on if she just tripped like that._

...

"Ayame-senpai."

Ayame peeled her eyes away from the book in her hands and looked up from beneath her cap to see Noriko, and beside her Ryoko and Chisato, all smiling at her. Ryoko still donned her school uniform, but by the looks of Noriko and Chisato, who had their respective club outfits and looked slightly sweaty, they had finished their matches for the day.

"Ayame-senpai," Noriko said again, now that Ayame had finally taken notice of them, "6-0 please!"

"And 6-0 for me as well, Ayame," Chisato said.

Ayame nodded and put her book down on the table, next to where her purple racket rested. She stood up and wrote the results on the board, then sat back down.

"So," Chisato started, "Maeki versus Maeki now, right?"

Ayame smirked a little and nodded. "Yeah, just waiting on Mitsune to finish her match."

Noriko looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned to Ryoko. "Hey Ryoko, do you mind if I watch their match?"

Ryoko shook her head. "Nope."

"It's nothing out of the ordinary." Ayame shrugged. "We play all the time at the club."

"Yep, but not here in the ranking matches!" Noriko pointed out.

"I'm going to go change and get ready," Ryoko bowed slightly to the three. "I'll see you all later."

"Go get 'em!" Noriko said, tapping her on the back, and Chisato and Ayame wished her good luck as she left.

"Have you two seen Keiko?" Ayame asked. She sighed when Noriko and Chisato shook their heads. "She's beyond hope if she arrives late to this match."

Chisato chuckled. "I think if there's one match she won't be late to, it's this one."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ayame went to pick up her book again, but the tall form of Mitsune turned the corner of the closest cage, with a disgruntled Maiko in tow. While Maiko headed for the girls' locker room, Mitsune approached the table, not looking at either Chisato or Noriko.

"6-0," the tall girl said simply, and began to turn around when Ayame's voice stopped her.

"Mitsune," Ayame called, standing up to write the result on the board. "You're a regular, too. Why don't you take the table so I can play my match?"

Mitsune looked at Chisato for a moment, making Noriko think that she would suggest that Chisato could take the table instead, but finally nodded, despite not looking too pleased. Ayame took her racket and walked out from behind the table, allowing Mitsune to move over and sit down.

"Keep an eye on my book for me, too?" Ayame asked, and when Mitsune nodded again she said "Thanks" and turned around, walking off towards her court.

Noriko almost smiled at the way Ayame could talk so easily to Mitsune. Noriko, on the other hand, didn't want to spend any more time around the tall senpai than she had to, so she quickly went to follow Ayame. After a few steps, though, she noticed that Chisato wasn't beside her.

"Chisato...senpai?" Noriko turned around to see Chisato and Mitsune staring at each other. The looks in their eyes weren't exactly hostile, but not friendly either. Even if Noriko had thought to ask something, Chisato suddenly turned and walked in her direction.

"Let's go, Noriko-chan."

Although Noriko felt that there was something deeper behind those stares than she had knowledge of, she felt it best not to ask, at least not at that moment.

Together, the two caught up with Ayame as she was reaching the entrance to the girls' courts. Standing at the entrance, ready with her red racket and tennis club uniform was Keiko, who pointed at Ayame as soon as she saw her coming.

"You're late, Aya!"

Ayame looked genuinely surprised. "No, I'm not, but you're _early_!"

Chisato grinned. "See, I told you!"

Ayame adjusted her white cap bearing the letter 'A' on it and sighed. "Come on, let's get it over with."

Keiko walked in after her sister, snickering. "Maybe I really _should_ have sawed them off, tee-hee."

"Huh?"

"Nothing!"

As the two sisters decided who would serve first and walked to their respective positions, Noriko looked around.

"Hey, Chisato-senpai," Noriko started, "where's Yuka-senpai?"

"Yuka?" Chisato looked left and right as well, "Oh yeah, that's right. She said she was going to watch Ryoko-chan's match."

"Eh?" Noriko tilted her head to side, raising an eyebrow, "Ryoko's match?"

"Yep," Chisato replied, "She said she sees this match all the time at the club, so she wanted to see a different one."

"Sees this match all the time...? That makes it sound like she knows who's going to win or something." Noriko looked back to the court where Ayame was ready to serve the first point of the game, but was waiting for Keiko to tie her shoes properly.

"Noriko-chan, don't you go to the club with them sometimes?" Chisato asked, looking at Noriko.

"Well, yeah, but when I go we usually play doubles with you or Yuka-senpai."

"Hmm," Chisato nodded, turning her eyes back to the court just in time to see Ayame throw the yellow ball in the air. "Well, with the exception of the first two times they faced each other, several years ago—"

Ayame's racket sent the ball flying with great accuracy to Keiko's side of the court.

"—Keiko-chan has never beaten Ayame."

"Eh?!"

Keiko returned the serve, and the two sisters began rallying.


	8. Sister Duel

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 8: Sister Duel

...

"Keiko hasn't won since their first two matches?" Noriko gripped the cage, staring at the match intently. "But they play all the time, and Keiko's not a bad player. How can it be that she never wins?"

"Well..." Chisato shrugged, "Actually, aside from Ayame's skill, the fact that they play so much is the reason why Ayame wins. She knows her sister's play style so well that Keiko-chan rarely gets shots past her."

"That should go for both of them, shouldn't it?"

At that moment, Ayame hit a deep cross court shot, making Keiko run pretty much off the court to reach it. Then Ayame followed up with a down-the-line shot that hit the baseline right on the white line, and try as she might, Keiko couldn't run the whole court and reach it in time.

"15-0!"

"That's the thing, though," Chisato explained, "while Ayame got so used to Keiko-chan's style that she usually knows what she's going to try, Keiko-chan hasn't done the same because she normally plays instinctively and doesn't worry about strategy."

"You mean, like... playing just by reflex, without memory?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"But still, it's not possible that she hasn't picked _anything_ up, is it?"

Chisato giggled. "You of all people should know how stubborn she is."

Noriko narrowed her eyes. It was true, Keiko was truly stubborn. Still, how could Keiko have been so confident these past few days when she hadn't won a match against her sister in years? Yes, Noriko sometimes believed that Keiko's confidence was unshakable (and after what she had just learned, that belief had only been strengthened), but still...

Was it really possible for her to win, to beat her sister Ayame, for the first time in years? Noriko didn't know and she told herself she wouldn't cheer out loud because she liked both of them, but she had known Keiko longer and would still be cheering for her on the inside, even if this was just a losing battle.

"30-0!"

 _Come on, Keiko,_ she thought, biting her lip.

Soon, though, the umpire exclaimed: "40-0!"

Chisato shrugged. "It's going faster than normal. It's all Ayame's pace now."

As Ayame served again, though, Noriko looked thoughtful. "Yeah, but... it's like Keiko isn't playing like her usual self."

Chisato thought to ask what she meant, but she could tell just looking at Keiko rallying. The red-haired girl had a focused expression on her face, very unusual for her when she was playing tennis... well, unusual for her in any situation! Not only that, but since the match had started she hadn't made a single hop, leap, or dive, nor had she switched hands mid-point.

"Game, Ayame. One game to love. Change court."

Then, as if it had been her that had won the game, Keiko opened up a big smile and jumped happily. "It works!" She ran towards her sister and pointed her racket at her. "That was just a warm up. Now the match truly begins!"

Ayame grinned but looked unimpressed, and continued walking calmly to the other side of the court while Keiko ran.

Chisato raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's more like her."

"Hurry up, Aya!" Keiko, ball in hand, urged her sister.

Ayame shrugged, just then reaching the receiving position. "No one told you to run."

As soon as Ayame was ready, Keiko served and started the rally. The focused look on her face was partially still there, but her movements had their usual vibrancy again. When Ayame hit a shot that seemed like it would seal the point for her for sure, Keiko reached it with a leap, then rushed the net. Ayame hit another accurate return shot, but Keiko was already running towards that direction and leaped towards it, using the momentum to hit a fast drive to the open court and win the point.

"15-0!"

"Yes!" Keiko jumped up and down, throwing her fists in the air. Ayame raised an eyebrow at her sister.

"Keiko-chan played that point really well," Chisato said. "She reached both of Ayame's winners and won the point."

The next point started the same way. The two sisters rallied for several shots, both keeping up with the other's pace. Then, half a second after returning a cross court shot, Keiko ran towards the net. Ayame was quick to notice and lobbed, but as soon as her racket hit the ball and there was no going back, Keiko stopped the approach. She followed the ball's trajectory and jumped a full meter into the air, smashing the ball down to Ayame's side of the court and out again in an instant, too fast for Ayame to return.

"30-0!"

Keiko grinned at her sister, her right hand on her hip and her other making a 'V' with her fingers.

Ayame looked back at the tennis ball, still bouncing back near the cage behind the court, then turned to her sister and chuckled. "So, it seems like you've finally decided to use your head, huh?"

Keiko stuck her tongue out. "It's kind of annoying, but it works!"

"Finally decided to use her head?" Noriko muttered.

Chisato giggled. "I think she means that Keiko-chan is finally trying to anticipate her shots."

"Just like that?"

"Well, I'd suggest that maybe she heard us talking, but," Chisato shrugged, "that wouldn't really be like Keiko-chan. She must have just used the first game to get used to the idea."

Noriko nodded, narrowing her eyes at the court where Keiko had served and was again rallying with her sister. _Keiko really wants to win, and maybe now she really can... Yeah, she totally can!_

A few shots later, the umpire's voice called: "40-0!"

"Wow," Chisato said, "three in a row."

At the end of the next point, however: "40-15!"

Keiko had slightly lost her balance during one of her leaps and had sent the ball to the net. She stomped the ground, frowning. "Dang it!" The girl quickly got another ball and ran to the next position, once more having to wait for her sister, who walked.

"Keiko-chan looks a little nervous," Chisato said. "She should have had some herbal tea before the match."

"Come on, Kei—oops!" Noriko started to cheer, but quickly covered her mouth with her hands, remembering she'd decided not to take sides.

The next point ended much like the first three. "Game, Keiko. One game all."

Ayame served the next game and won, but Keiko was able to take it to deuce twice before she lost with an out ball.

"Out! Game, Ayame. Ayame leads two games to one. Change court."

"Argh, stupid stupid stupid!" Keiko ruffled her own hair, then dashed and jumped over the net to the other side. Ayame walked calmly as usual.

The fourth game again went to deuce, but with the advantage of serve, Keiko managed to win.

"Game, Keiko. Two games all."

"Yeah! Oops." Noriko chuckled nervously at again breaking her neutrality. She turned to Chisato. "See? It's not one sided at all."

"Well, it's true that with that advantage gone, Keiko can use her greater mobility to more effect, but," Chisato paused for a moment. "can she actually win against Ayame's accuracy?"

"Sure she can!" Noriko said firmly, returning her gaze to the match.

Ayame won the fifth game, her service game, but it again went to deuce before it was decided.

"Game, Ayame. Ayame leads three games to two. Change court."

As the two changed courts, Ayame stretched her arms out, sighing. "You've gotten better, chibi."

Keiko held up her racket proudly. "Of course, I'm gonna win!"

Ayame grinned. "Don't think you're the only one that can change things up."

Keiko frowned and quickly served. Ayame rallied normally until one shot she hit was practically on Keiko and would have been extremely easy for her to return if only Keiko hadn't expected the ball to go in the complete opposite direction and had already started to run that way. Keiko tried to turn around but slipped and the ball passed her by.

"0-15!"

"Heeey, you never hit that way!" Keiko complained.

Ayame shrugged. "I just did."

In the next point, Ayame once again caught Keiko going the other way and won the point with a shot that hit the baseline precisely.

"0-30!"

"Stop that, Aya!"

"Just serve, chibi."

"Uh-oh," Noriko said. She, like Chisato, had already understood Ayame's strategy, and against her sister, in this situation, they knew it would work well.

Keiko served. She was a little more hesitant in trying to anticipate shots now, and Ayame noticed it as the rally went on. With several well-placed shots, Ayame kept control of the point and made Keiko run around the court. When she saw a good chance, Ayame hit another deep, super accurate shot that Keiko, even with a leap, couldn't reach.

"Ahh!" Noriko put her hands on her head, looking worried, "Why doesn't Keiko try to do the same thing? She's too predictable to her sister!"

"It's hard to change your play style on the spot," Chisato said, "even more when that person is Keiko-chan. She's getting more nervous, too."

Noriko nodded. Keiko was visibly displeased, and had been the whole game, which was something very uncommon for the girl with confidence as tough as steel. In her nervous state and with Ayame's strategy and skill, Keiko quickly committed an error that gave her sister the game.

"Game, Ayame. Ayame leads four games to two."

"Nooo!" Keiko jumped up and down angrily.

"She lost her service game..." Noriko muttered.

"That's it, no more stupid thinking!" Keiko shouted with a frown. "But I'm still gonna win!"

Ayame simply got ready to serve and waited for her sister to get into position.

"And now she's going back to pure reflex," Chisato said. "She's not going to win at this rate, no matter how many times she repeats it."

With a mixture of well-placed shots and mistakes on Keiko's part, before they knew it the umpire was calling out: "Match point."

After another rally, despite Keiko's best efforts, Ayame had the opportunity to hit a cross court shot that she was sure would win the point. Still, conjuring up energy Ayame didn't think she still had, Keiko ran the baseline and jumped with all of her might, reaching the ball and surprising even Ayame. Since she had to completely focus on hitting the ball, Keiko lost her balance and her elbow skidded painfully on the court. She used her leftover momentum to roll right back onto two feet, but then saw the result of her effort: the ball hadn't even passed the net.

"Game and match, Ayame. Six games to two."

Ayame walked towards the net for the traditional handshake. Her head was tilted down as she adjusted her cap. "You did a little better, chibi, but still—" She stopped and looked up when she heard the racket fall out of her sister's hands, and her eyes opened wide in surprise.

Keiko's head was slightly lowered, but the tears rolling freely down her face were easily noticeable, falling off of her chin in small drops. A kind of general silence descended upon all of those watching, broken only by Keiko's sniffles.

Ayame was speechless for long moments. Then, still unsure of what to say, she took a step forward and began: "Kei—"

Keiko's head snapped up at her, and beneath the tears was a mixture of sadness and anger where usually graced only joy.

"You big meanie!" Keiko screamed and promptly ran out of the court, leaving Ayame and all of the spectators completely shocked.

Keiko banked left after leaving the cage, and passed by Noriko and Chisato so fast that the two didn't have time to say anything. Keiko ran past the girls' locker room and disappeared around the corner just as Ayame reached the exit of the cage in a jog.

Ayame's expression was still one of disbelief when Noriko and Chisato walked up to her. The three shared a moment of silence before Ayame shook her head and spoke.

"She's never reacted like that before."

"I've never seen her so upset," Noriko agreed.

"I guess I should get her racket?" Ayame began to turn back towards the court.

"Ayame," Chisato said.

Ayame stopped and looked back at her. "What?"

"Go talk to her. She probably went to the rooftop."

"It's not my fault," Ayame said defensively.

Chisato shook her head. "That's not the point."

"This match was _really_ important to her," Noriko said. "She was so intent on winning."

"Then I'm probably the last person she wants to see right now," Ayame protested.

"You're her sister," Chisato said simply. "Trust me. Go. Don't worry about the racket, I'll get it."

Ayame looked at Chisato and Noriko in turn and nodded, sighing again.

...

Keiko heard the door to the roof open behind her, and somehow she just _knew_ who it was.

"Go away!" she shouted.

Ayame hesitated, but Chisato's words rang again in her mind. She shut the door behind her and walked towards Keiko. Hearing the footsteps, the red-haired girl turned around and stomped her feet.

"Go away, I said!"

Keiko's eyes were puffy and her cheeks were tear-streaked. For a moment, Ayame was taken aback by how much of a different person she seemed like this.

"No," Ayame said.

Keiko huffed, turning back around and hugging the railing.

"You must hate me right now," Ayame said as she walked up and leaned on the railing beside her younger sister, "huh, chibi?"

"I have a _name_ , Aya. And yeah, I totally _for sure_ hate you right now."

Ayame glanced at her sister, then looked up at the sky. She spent a long time staring at the clouds, searching for the perfect words that would set things right. Life wasn't a novel, though. None of the words seemed perfect. All she could do, she decided with a sigh, was to go with the best ones she could find.

"Kei, remember when we started playing Street Fighter? How you would beat me every single time?"

Keiko snorted despite herself. "Because you sucked."

"I did suck," Ayame agreed. "Remember what I did, though?" No reply. "I played you all the time. You were the one who pestered me into playing in the beginning, but after a certain point I'd be the one who would ask _you_ to play. Remember? Nowadays... well, I'm still not great, but I win every now and then. I would never have gotten to this point if we hadn't played so much."

"You're telling me I just have to practice more, is that it?" Keiko asked, irritated. "I've practicing every day for the last two years, Aya, and it made _no_ difference!"

"You sure about that?" Ayame shook her head. "I'm not telling you something as obvious as 'practice makes perfect'. I know you know that. I'm saying that having an opponent that we desperately want to defeat motivates us to keep getting better, more than anything else."

Ayame slowly reached out and squeezed Keiko's shoulder.

"Kei, you can't possibly think all your training made no difference. You've gotten so much better over the last two years. And that's not all."

Keiko finally looked up at her sister, eyes still moist.

"You've made me stronger, too," Ayame said. "If it feels like you haven't made progress against me, that's just because you forced me to constantly improve so I wouldn't get left behind. I've been practicing these last two years, too, you know."

Keiko sighed and looked down at her feet.

"I _really_ wanted to win..."

"You'll have more chances. In the meantime, focus on becoming a regular, Kei. You're doing well against the other third-years. If you become a regular, we can play together in tournaments. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Mmm." Keiko rested her arms on the railing, then her chin on her arms. Though she tried to hide it, Ayame could tell the idea pleased her. "I guess..."

Keiko wasn't sniffling anymore. Ayame smiled, took a step closer, and wrapped her arm around Keiko's shoulders.

"I still hate you," Keiko said, although her voice sounded almost playful again.

Ayame chuckled. "Love you, too, chibi."


	9. Seigaku's Number One

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 9: Seigaku's Number One

...

As the sensei droned on and on in front of the classroom, Noriko stealthily pulled a pair of earbuds out of her backpack and put them on. After a few clicks on her MP3 player, her world was filled with music. She kept her eyes open and focused on the textbook on her desk to keep up appearances, but mentally she was far away, her feet and fingers tapping along with the rhythmic beat of the song.

The brown-haired girl was under no illusions: that day's match against the captain of Seigaku's girls' tennis club would be the hardest match of her entire life up until that point. If she was being brutally honest with herself, she didn't believe she could win. But she also knew thinking like that would do her no favors. She thought of Keiko, who went into every match with absolute confidence that she would win, and, having played Keiko many times, Noriko knew how hard it was to face such a strong-willed opponent. So that's what she needed to do: she needed to believe she could win.

 _It's not like Keiko's ever had to face Captain Sakura, though,_ Noriko thought. _Although that girl would probably find a way to be confident anyway. Still, easier said than done._

She'd closed her eyes without realizing it at some point, getting lost in the music and her thoughts. She was yanked back to reality sometime later when someone nudged her in the side. She looked sideways and saw Ryoko with a distressed expression, motioning subtly with her head towards the front of the classroom. The sensei was looking at her and saying something she couldn't hear over the music.

Noriko took off her earbuds and stood up in a flash.

"Yes, sensei! Sorry, sensei!"

Most of her classmates laughed at her reaction. The sensei looked slightly confused.

"So then... please read the next section for us," he said, and Noriko imagined he must have repeated himself once or twice already.

If only she had any idea what section he was talking about.

Noriko was wracking her brain trying to come up with an excuse for not having paid attention, when she heard Ryoko whisper: "Page 91, section 2."

She shot her friend a grateful smile as she turned a few pages of her textbook, cleared her throat, and began reading.

...

"Game and match, Ryoko. Six games to love."

Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief as she walked over to the net to shake hands with her opponent.

"Good match, Ryoko-chan."

"Good match, Junko-senpai."

Junko chuckled. "You know, when I saw that Mitsune was the only regular in my block, I thought I'd have an easy time making regular this time around. Turns out there were two monsters hiding in my block."

Ryoko just smiled sheepishly, accepting the compliment with a nod. "Thanks."

As soon as Ryoko stepped out of the cage, Noriko wrapped her up in a big hug.

"Ryoko, you did it!"

Ryoko was just trying to keep her balance so they both didn't fall down. Sure, she'd won again, but why was Noriko so much more excited about this win than her previous one? Before she could get any words out, Noriko grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along. Yuka was the one manning the desk at that moment, and she looked up with a gentle smile as they approached.

"Tell her, Ryoko!" Noriko urged.

"U-Um... I won 6-0, Yuka-senpai."

Yuka got up and wrote the result on the board, then turned around and flashed Ryoko an even wider smile.

"Congratulations, Ryoko-chan," she said. "It seems you are Seigaku's first new regular."

Ryoko blinked. It took a few seconds for the significance of that to sink in. When it finally did, her eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"But I have one more match to play tomorrow, don't I?" Ryoko asked breathlessly.

Noriko laughed, hugging her friend again. "You have four wins! That means that even if you lose your last match, you'll have enough wins to place second. Which means... you're a regular!"

Before she realized it, Ryoko was laughing right along with Noriko. She returned her friend's hug, and the two were soon jumping up and down in joy.

...

Ayame sat down on the bench in front of her locker with a sigh. She wiped the sweat off her brow with a towel then slipped off her running shoes. After just playing a match in the afternoon sun even the warm air of the locker room felt cool on her feet. She leaned back, resting her arms on the bench, and just appreciated the moment of silence in the empty locker room.

The moment didn't last long. The door to the locker room flew open and in entered a red-haired youth who made a beeline for Ayame as soon as she spotted her. Keiko hopped onto the bench next to Ayame and proceeded to unceremoniously lie down on her sister's lap.

"Ayaaa—" Keiko paused whatever she was about to say to glance down at Ayame's bare feet. "Eww, stinky feet!"

"Hey, give me a break," Ayame said defensively, "It's a hot day, and I just got done playing a match."

"I'm gonna tell mo-oom," Keiko said, giggling and wagging her finger.

Ayame frowned, shaking her head. "What? What kind of a threat is that? You realize she's the one who washes our clothes, right?"

"I'm joking!" Keiko said, sitting up. She diverted her eyes, suddenly a bit bashful. "Aya, I'm about to play my match... Wanna come watch?"

Ayame's eyebrows raised. It was the first time the whole week that Keiko had asked that of her. She smiled and ruffled her sister's hair.

"Sure thing, chibi. Just let me change."

Ayame came out of the changing room not too long after to see that Sakura had entered the locker room, and was just finishing tying up her shoes. The captain's pink racket rested next to her on the bench.

"Ayame," Sakura said when she saw the girl, "may I borrow some grip? Mine is getting a little old."

"Sure thing," Ayame said. She opened her locker, took out a small roll of dark purple grip tape, and tossed it over to Sakura.

Sakura caught the roll and immediately set to applying the new grip to her racket's handle. "Thank you. I'll pay you back."

"Oh," Ayame said, "You don't have to, captain."

Sakura looked up at Ayame, and Keiko, who was standing nearby, felt like something unspoken passed between them.

Sakura finally smiled and said, "It's fine, don't worry. I can pay you back."

After a pause, Ayame nodded. "All right. No rush, okay?" Then she turned and gestured to Keiko, and the two sisters left the locker room and headed for the courts.

...

Sometime later, Ryoko watched Noriko as she drank from the water fountain just outside the locker room.

"I wish I could be relaxed like you, Noriko."

Noriko finished drinking then stood up straight, turning to Ryoko and chuckling.

"You think I'm not nervous? I'm nervous as heck. I just hide it better than you." Noriko picked at her racket's strings. "I have a plan. I just hope it works."

Ryoko nodded. Even though she wasn't the one who was about to play Sakura, she still felt her heart beating faster. She'd never seen the captain play or even practice with the rest of them, but she heard that she was the best player on the team. She was supposed to be even better than Yuka, the one called a tennis genius. Ryoko was worried for her friend, but nevertheless excited to see the captain play.

"Well," Noriko said after a deep breath, "wish me luck."

"Good luck, Noriko."

Yellow racket firmly in hand, the brown-haired girl headed for the court with Ryoko in tow.

...

Noriko warmed up close to the net, squatting and stretching one leg out, then shifting her weight and stretching out the other, over and over. There were a decent number of people standing outside of the cage, more than any of her other matches that week. Noriko knew why: everyone was interested in watching their club's captain play.

She knew the captain had arrived before she even spotted her. It was like a hush had descended upon the onlookers, who up until that point had been chatting lively. Noriko looked towards the entrance of the cage and saw that Sakura had just entered and was walking towards her. The tall, blonde girl wore her Seigaku regular jersey and held her pink racket in her right hand. She also sported her matching pink headband and wristband.

After one final stretch, Noriko stood up straight and matched Sakura's emerald green gaze.

"Hi, Noriko-chan." Sakura smiled. "Let's have a good match."

"Yes, captain!"

The two shook hands. Sakura then spun her racket to decide the serve.

The umpire announced, "One set match. Sakura vs. Noriko. Noriko to serve."

The two players got into position. Noriko looked across the court to the captain, who patiently awaited her serve. _Be aggressive. Finish points quickly._ She took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

Noriko tossed the ball up and served. The ball sailed through the air, making a wide curve, and Noriko was dashing up right behind it. Sakura narrowed her eyes, recognizing the serve-and-volley tactic immediately, and hit a down-the-line return. With an instant twist of the ball of her foot, Noriko changed direction and dashed to the side, reaching the ball and hitting a short volley to the opposite side of the court. Sakura was too far away to even try to reach it.

Noriko applied the same tactic the rest of her service game. Sakura's passing shots were fast and well-placed, but Noriko's insane speed guaranteed that she reached the net after every serve, and her instant changes of directions allowed her to volley every ball that came her way. Sakura even reached some of the deeper volleys, but Noriko was proving able to cover the entire length of the net and keep volleying until she hit a ball that Sakura could not reach.

"Game, Noriko. One game to love. Change court."

The brown-haired girl resisted the urge to celebrate too soon as she changed sides. _That's it. Set the pace. Don't let her get her game started._

Outside the court Ryoko heard whispers of admiration. She could imagine why. From what she'd heard, it wasn't uncommon for the captain to 6-0 most of her opponents, and here was a second-year student taking a game off of her. _Serve-and-volley is perfect for Noriko, considering how fast she is,_ Ryoko thought. She was happy for her friend and would have cheered if she'd been a less shy person.

Yet Ryoko couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling. The captain had only tried fairly mundane passing shots, no lobs or shots at the feet. The passing shots had been expertly hit, yes, but it seemed like Sakura had been trying to get a measure of Noriko more than anything else.

Noriko seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because she looked all business as she settled into position to receive Sakura's serve.

Sakura glanced at her opponent to make sure she was ready, then tossed and served. The whole motion was practiced and elegant and the serve that came out of it was extremely fast. Noriko had seen the captain serve before, and yet being on the receiving end of the serve proved to be quite a different experience. The ball's speed caught her off-guard, and it whizzed past her without her even reacting.

"15-0!"

 _No-touch ace,_ Ryoko thought, eyes going wide. Judging from the whispers Ryoko heard from the other onlookers, she wasn't the only one who was impressed. That had been the fastest serve she'd seen from another middle schooler.

Noriko was blinking at the ball bouncing in the back of the court, while Sakura was coolly getting another ball and moving to the next serve position.

The blonde-haired captain served again, sending another blisteringly fast ball towards Noriko's service box. Noriko had to dash to the side, throwing her racket out to try to catch it. She managed to make contact, but the return was weak. Sakura attacked it with a deep cross court shot.

She, like everyone else, thought the point was finished at that point. However, many pairs of eyes widened as Noriko worked her legs as hard as they could go, running across the entire length of the baseline. She was able to get her racket underneath the ball and hit it back a split second before it bounced a second time. The shot came out surprisingly solid, flying straight down the line and giving Sakura no chance to return it.

"15-15!"

 _She's crazy fast,_ Ryoko thought, mouth agape.

Sakura gave Noriko a nod of recognition for the well-played point, then moved to the next serve position.

On Sakura's next serve, Noriko again made contact with the ball, but it flew back way too high, and Sakura moved up to smash it back down for the point.

"30-15!"

The next two points ended in a similar manner, with Noriko just barely returning the serve, and Sakura quickly finishing the point up with a follow-up that not even the brown-haired speedster could return.

"Game, Sakura. One game all."

 _That's going to be a tough serve to break,_ Ryoko was thinking with a frown. _As long as Noriko keeps her own service games, though, she only needs to do it once..._

Back to Noriko's serve, she continued with her game plan, dashing up to the net right after serving. As soon as she started running, though, she saw Sakura take several steps forward. Sakura returned her serve while it was still on the rise and the well-placed return forced Noriko to halt her forward movement and change directions, running instead to the side and back to reach it. Despite the quality of the return Noriko was still fast enough to reach it, but Sakura was well-positioned to follow it up. She kept hitting half-volleys, returning Noriko's shots while they were still on the rise, making it hard for Noriko, even with her speed, to attack the net.

And so it began. By aggressively attacking Noriko's serve, Sakura was able to pressure Noriko rather than the other way around. Almost every point developed into a rally which had Sakura hitting fast and precise shots that made Noriko race all around the court. Even though Noriko managed to reach so many of them, more often than not Sakura overwhelmed her and eventually hit a shot she couldn't reach in time.

"Game, Sakura. Sakura leads two games to one. Change court."

 _The captain's turned the tables on her,_ Ryoko thought, brow furrowed. _Attacking her serve isn't letting her get her game started._ _It's a smart tactic. But it wouldn't work on someone as fast as Noriko if the captain didn't have such good groundstrokes. In fact... I can't spot any weaknesses at all._

Noriko clearly looked perturbed as she walked to the other side of the court. Her whole game plan had consisted of holding her serve and breaking the captain's serve, even if just once, by being aggressive. Not only had the captain shut down that tactic on Noriko's serve, but she hadn't even let her get it started on Sakura's serve.

 _Dang it, come on,_ Noriko thought, gripping the handle of her racket tighter. _I have to get my game going!_

Ryoko didn't like what she was seeing. If Noriko didn't believe she could win...

The next game slipped away, then the next, then...

...

Almost immediately after the umpire announced Keiko's match's final score, she rushed up to the net and hurriedly shook her opponent's hand. Then she ran out of the cage and up to her sister, who had been standing outside watching the match.

"Did ya see that, Aya? Did ya?!"

Ayame chuckled, ruffling her sister's hair. "Another 6-0. Not bad, chibi."

Keiko beamed, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth. "Tee-hee!"

As they walked back to the desk and passed by the other set of courts, a particularly fast ball hit the side of the chain link fence and got stuck there. Keiko, who had been right beside it, jumped back and squealed in surprise.

The two sisters looked over to the court and saw Noriko sitting on the court trying to catch her breath, her yellow racket lying on the ground beside her. On the other side of the court, Sakura walked calmly towards the net for what Keiko could only assume was the end-of-match handshake.

"Noriko and the captain were playing?" Keiko exclaimed. Then she noticed Ryoko standing close to the entrance and walked over to her, pulling her sister along. "Ryoko!" Keiko noticed that Ryoko watched the court with mouth wide open in astonishment. "Huh? What's wrong, Ryoko?"

Ryoko just shrugged, trying to find the words. "Her backhand..."

Ayame smiled when she noticed the younger girl's expression. "She used _that_ , huh?"

"That?" Keiko asked, puzzled. She glanced at Sakura, then back at Ayame. "What's 'that'?"

Ayame shrugged. With a grin, she turned and started walking away. "Well, I need to get back to the desk, chibi. You don't want me to forget to report your match, do you?"

"Wait, Aya! Answer me! What's 'that'?" Keiko jogged after her. It didn't cross her mind to ask Ryoko instead. "Ayaaa!"

...

"Game and match, Sakura. Six games to one."

Noriko stared up at the sky while she caught her breath. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sakura had approached the net and knew she should get up, even though what she really wanted at that moment was to just sprawl right there and not move for an hour. With a resigned sigh, she pushed herself to a standing position, fetched her racket, and approached the net.

"Well," Noriko said, smiling weakly, "you got me good, captain."

"You played better than the score would suggest, Noriko-chan," Sakura said, shaking Noriko's hand. "Keep up the good work."

Noriko's smile became a bit more earnest after the compliment. She nodded. "Yes, captain!"

...

Sakura walked out of the cage and headed right, going to the desk to report her win. Ryoko followed the captain with her eyes as she walked past, and she suddenly realized she badly wanted to play her. Facing Seigaku's number 1 player would be the ultimate test of her tennis skill. The mere thought of it made her heart beat faster.

 _Could I succeed? Could I win against her?_

The sound of footsteps behind her made her turn around. Noriko was just then exiting the cage and walking towards her friend. Ryoko gave her a consoling smile as Noriko walked up to her with slumped shoulders. Noriko took a deep breath and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, that didn't go well."

"You were great, Noriko," Ryoko said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If you had faced pretty much anyone other than the captain, I'm sure you would have won."

Noriko smiled. "Thanks, Ryoko."

They shared some silence then. Eventually, they started idly looked around at the matches still going on. Ryoko's eyes came to rest on a match being played at a nearby court. After a moment, recognition hit her: it was Tamiyo, the girl who she'd played two days earlier, facing off against none other than the tall senpai Mitsune.

"Game and match, Mitsune," they heard the umpire call out. "Six games to love."

Ryoko's eyes widened. Noriko had noticed, too. That Tamiyo lost without taking a single game?

"Did I hear that right?" Noriko muttered.

Inside the court, Tamiyo was looking down at her racket. _Her power completely nullified the spin of my shots._ The girl looked back up at Mitsune, who was confidently smirking at the net, waiting for the handshake.

Tamiyo laughed, thinking, _Seigaku's interesting!_

Ryoko, on the other hand, glanced worriedly at Noriko. "She's... my opponent tomorrow."


	10. The Rude Senpai

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 10: The Rude Senpai

...

Ryoko woke up on Friday, as always, to her strident, ringing alarm. After turning it off, she simply lay in bed for several minutes, staring at the ceiling and contemplating the events of the previous few days.

Friday was the last day of the girls' ranking matches. She knew Noriko and Keiko both had 3-1 records, with their only losses coming from the third-year regular in their respective blocks. As long as they won their last match, they would make it to regular. Based on their matches so far and what she knew of the opponents the two would be facing, Ryoko believed they would have no trouble doing so.

As for Ryoko herself, she had beaten Tamiyo on Tuesday, as well as her other three matches on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. She and Mitsune Yonesima, the rude senpai that had bumped into her and Noriko, were the only two players in their block who had 4 wins, which meant that Ryoko was already a regular even if she lost her last match.

It seemed surreal to Ryoko. Her, a Seigaku regular?

There were still butterflies in her stomach, though. Her last match was against the very same Mitsune. A large part of Ryoko was dreading having to play the older girl.

But there was another part of her that wanted to prove she had what it took to win.

"Well, I just have to do my best," she muttered as she got out of bed and started the day.

...

Keiko ran up to the desk beside the bulletin board with such vigor that for a moment Chisato, the one who was manning it at that moment, thought she intended to jump on top of it. The red-haired girl landed with feet set wide, made a 'V' with both hands, and beamed at the older girl.

"6-0, Chisato-senpaaai!"

"Congratulations, Keiko-chan!" Chisato got up and wrote the result on the board, then took a step back. "You finished with four wins. It seems like Seigaku has another new regular."

"She's not the only one!" Noriko exclaimed as she also dashed up to the desk. "6-0 for me, too!"

"Ohh." Chisato wrote that result on the board as well. "You both made it. Well done!"

"Tee-hee!"

"Chisato-senpai, Ryoko hasn't started playing yet, right?" Noriko asked, looking around.

"No, I don't think so."

As if on cue, the door to the girls' locker room opened and out stepped Ryoko. She wore the tennis club uniform and held her light blue racket close to her chest, her eyes darting around furtively.

"Ah, speak of the devil. Ryoko!" Noriko waved.

Ryoko shuffled over.

"Ryoko, we did it!" She motioned to herself and the beaming Keiko next to her. "Keiko and I won today. That means all three of us made it to regular!"

Ryoko smiled. "Congratulations you two."

"Regular! Regular!" Keiko shouted, then froze as something occurred to her. "Oh! We're like the Ko Trio. Kei _ko_ , Nori _ko_ , Ryo _ko_. Haha! All fear the Regular Ko Trio!"

She and Noriko laughed for several seconds, but they both stopped when they saw that Ryoko was distracted again.

"Ryoko, what's wrong?"

"I have to play Mitsune-senpai now."

"Ah," Noriko said knowingly, "Well, no matter what happens, you already made it to regular."

"I know. That's not what I'm worried about..." Ryoko said.

"Hey," they heard Ayame's voice from a ways off.

Ayame and Yuka waved at the gathered four as they approached. Keiko immediately pounced on Ayame.

"Ayaaa, I did it!"

"Good job, chibi."

Yuka smiled at the two sisters, then turned her attention to Ryoko, who was still looking around fearfully. "Ryoko-chan is playing Mitsune now, yes?"

"That's right!" Noriko wrapped her arm around Ryoko's shoulders, making the girl jump in surprise. "And you're going to win, right, Ryoko?"

"It's the last match," Yuka said, "so we'll all be able to watch."

"Eh?!" Ryoko exclaimed.

Ryoko had been looking around specifically for Mitsune, but now that Yuka mentioned it she noticed just how many other people were milling around. Many of the girls in the girls' tennis club were standing around the Court A cage waiting to watch the match, and there were also several boys! Some of them even had the boys' tennis club uniform.

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of that red-haired boy watching her match, but she breathed a small sigh of relief when she couldn't find him amongst the crowd. One less reason to be nervous, at least.

Still, there were so many people! Or it seemed that way to her, anyway. And if it was the last match, would all her senpai regulars be watching, too? _Wait, except for the captain and Mitsune-senpai, they're all already here!_

Ryoko felt her hands start to shake. Moments later, two hands enveloped her own. Noriko's chestnut brown eyes locked onto her light blue ones.

"Ryoko," she whispered, "Calm down. You'll be fine."

"But Noriko..."

"Remember how nervous you were when you played Tamiyo? Then remember how well you did? Don't worry about the people watching. Just play your game and I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I—"

"You'll be fine! You hear me?"

Ryoko blinked at Noriko. For some reason she was reminded of the day before when Noriko had played against Sakura. Noriko hadn't been too confident about her own play then. Yet she was always one of the first one to hype others up. The contrast was peculiar...

In any case, her friend's encouragement was certainly effective. Ryoko couldn't help but smile and nod. "Yes!"

"Hey, newbie," said a voice behind them. They turned around and there stood Mitsune, having just turned the corner, wearing her Seigaku regular jersey and her usual scowl. She walked up to Ryoko, starkly highlighting their height difference. "Let's go."

Ryoko gulped, but nodded.

...

As the two entered the court, Noriko, Keiko, Ayame, Chisato, and Yuka lined up outside the cage with all of the other bystanders to watch the match. They heard footsteps and turned to see Sakura walking up to stand beside them.

"Afternoon, everyone," said Sakura with a smile, before turning to face the court.

"You're watching, too, captain?" Ayame asked.

"Of course, it's the last match." She glanced at Yuka. "And it's been promised to be a good one."

Chisato tapped her chin, thoughtful. "With Ryoko-chan's results, she has already made regular. Still, this will be an interesting opportunity to see how she fares against another regular."

Inside the court, Ryoko and Mitsune walked up to the net. They reached out and shook hands. It only lasted a second, but Ryoko was grimacing and flexing her fingers afterwards. Mitsune's grip was so strong it had hurt!

"You know, newbie," Mitsune suddenly said, smirking, "you didn't face a single regular on your way to four wins. You're lucky that half of the regulars were seniors who graduated last year, huh? Hmph. Honestly, if you lose to me, I think you shouldn't even be allowed to become a regular."

"How rude!" Noriko said, frowning.

"Rude! Rude!" Keiko agreed.

"She's just trying to get under Ryoko-chan's skin," Chisato said.

Ryoko was blushing furiously. She hugged her racket tight, feeling the weight of all the eyes watching them. _I'm being called out in front of everyone._

"Do you have what it takes, Aoshima?" Mitsune asked. "I'll tell you what. I might change my mind about you—" Mitsune pointed her racket at Ryoko. "—if you can return even one of my serves."

Ryoko just stood there, unsure of what to say or if she even _should_ say anything.

"Mitsune," Sakura suddenly called out, "Stop provoking your underclassman. You're on the same team!"

Although Mitsune didn't seem pleased at having been reprimanded, she nodded. "Yes, captain."

Mitsune spun her gray racket to see which of them would serve first. She picked 'smooth', and sure enough, the 'M' on her racket fell right-side-up. Mitsune gave an approving grin, picked up her racket, and walked to her serve position. Ryoko walked with small steps over to her receiving position.

"One set match," the umpire announced. "Mitsune vs. Ryoko. Mitsune to serve."

Mitsune bounced the ball in front of her several times, then looked up and smirked at Ryoko.

"I call this the Bazooka Serve."

Mitsune tossed the ball high up in the air. She pulled her arm far back, then as the ball came back down her arm whipped forward like a slingshot, so fast it looked like a blur.

Ryoko had been watching anxiously but intently and she gripped the handle of her light blue racket, ready to try to return the serve, but she could not have predicted the amount of power that was behind it. The ball flew so fast that its impact close to the corner of the service box seemed to make a different sort of noise, and as it went past Ryoko's face the displaced air made her ponytail move.

Ryoko looked behind her at the bouncing ball with wide eyes. _That was even faster than the captain's serve!_

"15-0!"

There were many excited exclamations from the crowd watching the match.

"Mitsune's Bazooka Serve," Yuka said. "The speed is incredible, especially if you've never seen it before."

"If she's serving full-strength right out of the gate," Ayame said, "it means she's serious about this match."

A dumbfounded Noriko said: "Oh man. I could barely see the ball."

The two players got into their next positions. Ryoko gripped her racket even tighter as the older girl tossed the ball up, her form identical to the first time. Mitsune's racket shot towards the tennis ball, launching it forward in a blur of motion.

"Bazooka Serve!" some in the crowd exclaimed.

Ryoko swung her racket reflexively but hit nothing, and a moment later heard the ball bounce off the chain link cage behind her. It had once again hit the outer corner of the service box and gone by too fast.

"30-0!"

Anticipation built up in the crowd again as Mitsune prepared her next serve. After the older girl's racket once more smashed into the ball, Ryoko swung and didn't feel her racket make contact with the ball. For a moment she thought she'd whiffed again, but then she realized the ball had hit the net and was rolling all the way back to Mitsune's feet.

"Fault!" the umpire called out. "Second serve."

Noriko said, "I guess a serve that strong is hard to control. Now Ryoko has a chance to attack her second serve."

"I'm not so sure about that..." Chisato said.

Ryoko seemed to be thinking the same as Noriko because she began to move forward as Mitsune served again. Yet the second serve that came her way was exactly the same as the previous three; Mitsune hadn't decreased the power at all. The ball flew past the surprised Ryoko.

"40-0!"

Mitsune had soon served once more, and this time Ryoko lunged and managed to at least get a racket on the ball, but it hit the rim and flew wide.

"Game, Mitsune. One game to love. Change court."

"Aw, man," Noriko groaned. "Love game."

"Yeah, but it's Ryoko's service game now," Keiko said, "She can build momentum!"

Ryoko got into serve position, but her mind was still reeling from Mitsune's service game. How would she ever be able to return such a powerful serve? And if she was ever going to win, she _had_ to!

"Hey newbie, hurry up," Mitsune called out.

Ryoko shook, realizing she'd been lost in thought for too many seconds. She quickly tossed the ball up and served, but the motion was rushed and the ball floated weakly over to Mitsune's service box and bounced high.

The older girl stepped up, brought her arm back and swung hard, sending a whistling shot down the line. Ryoko just barely started to move in its direction when it had already bounced once on her side of the court, then again on the fence behind her.

"0-15!"

Sighing and picking at her strings, Ryoko moved to the next serve position. _I can't serve weakly like that._

She made sure to not rush on her next serve. Mitsune couldn't attack it like the previous one, but her return still felt like it came at Ryoko so fast! She was able to hit it back, though, and the two began to rally.

Almost immediately, Mitsune's playstyle was obvious. The older girl would hit almost every ball with all of her might, sending fast ball after fast ball towards Ryoko's side of the court. Ryoko scrambled back and forth across the baseline to reach the shots, but they kept taking her further and further out of position until Mitsune finally hit a shot she couldn't reach.

"0-30!"

"How about it, Chisato?" Yuka said as they watched the two girls move to their next positions. "Does Ryoko-chan have the constitution to deal with Mitsune's power game?"

"Hmm." Chisato tapped her chin with a finger. "I haven't had a chance to do a detailed analysis on Ryoko-chan, but from casual observation, I'd say yes."

"Then the only question is—" Yuka narrowed her eyes. "—what form will it take?"

The next point was already under way and at that very moment it seemed like Mitsune had Ryoko on the ropes. She was swinging hard at a particularly slow return of Ryoko's, and it seemed as if the point would be over then and there. And it was – but instead of the ball slamming into Ryoko's court, it instead flew too far and landed past the baseline.

"Out! 15-30!"

Mitsune uttered a "Tch" and walked to the next receiving position, while Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief, almost not believing her good fortune.

"Sacrificing accuracy for power," Sakura commented, "It's both her strength, and her weakness."

"Setting aside the occasional unforced error, though, it's all Mitsune's pace," Ayame said.

"Come on, Ryoko..." Noriko gripped the cage, watching her friend intently.

"Yeah, I don't know if Ryoko-san can win this one," said Tamiyo, who apparently had been sitting for some time next to them watching the match.

"Eh?" Keiko exclaimed, eyes wide. "Tamiyo-chan? How long have you been sitting there?"

Tamiyo blinked at Keiko with drowsy-looking eyes and said: "Since the match started."

"Lies!"

"Anyway, you're wrong, Tamiyo-chan," Noriko said, "Ryoko can definitely win!"

Almost as if to prove Noriko wrong, at that moment Mitsune hit a strong cross court shot that Ryoko just barely reached and hit back, but the ball didn't get past the net.

"15-40!"

"Ahhh, break point..." Noriko lamented.

"She won't win if she plays this match like she did ours," Tamiyo said, "You can't play passively against Mitsune-san. She makes the occasional mistake, but way more often she'll just overwhelm you and win the point."

"Is that how you lost, Tamiyo-chan?" Keiko asked teasingly, expecting to get a rise out of the girl.

Instead, Tamiyo laughed. "Pretty much. I couldn't even get my game started. It's tough to get any kind of spin at all on her shots."

"Why?" Keiko asked.

"They bounce off the racket too fast. Faster shots equal less contact time with the racket."

"Wow, Tamiyo-chan," Keiko said, "you're actually kinda smart when you're awake."

Tamiyo looked at Keiko and smirked. "Can't say the same about you."

It took a moment, but eventually Keiko frowned and pointed at Tamiyo. "Hey! Are you calling me dumb?" Ayame snickered beside her, which made Keiko turn and point at her, too. "Don't laugh, Aya! You're my big sister, you're supposed to defend me!"

On the court, Ryoko was at that moment scrambling across the baseline to reach one of Mitsune's cross court shots. She reached it at the last moment and tried to hit down-the-line in an attempt to apply a bit of her own pressure back. The ball hit the tape of the net, however, and bounced to the middle of Mitsune's side of the court. Mitsune stepped up and pulled her arm back.

Ryoko narrowed her eyes. Mitsune was hitting from the middle of the court so she doubted she'd have time to reach the next shot, but a thought came unbidden to her: _She's going to hit to the right._ Ryoko started to run, and instants later Mitsune swung hard, sending the little yellow ball flying towards the right corner. Ryoko didn't even get close before the ball bounced past; she'd been right about not having enough time.

But she'd been right about the direction, too.

"Game, Mitsune. Two games to love."

Ryoko stared at the spot where the ball had bounced, frowning. _For a moment, I knew where she was going to hit it... Was that just a lucky guess?_

"Nooo, she got broken," Noriko was saying on the sidelines, ruffling her own hair.

"And now it's back to Mitsune's serve..." Chisato said.

The two girls on court got in position. Ryoko gripped her racket tightly as she waited for Mitsune's serve. She was aware that her situation had just gotten significantly worse. With a break under Mitsune's belt, Ryoko now had to break back once just to stay in the game and possibly take it to the tiebreak. To do that, she had to contend with the older girl's Bazooka Serve.

Mitsune bounced the tennis ball in front of her a few times, looked up to see if Ryoko was ready, and then tossed. A few people in the crowd said "Bazooka Serve!" as Mitsune's arm shot forward, launching the ball towards Ryoko's service box.

Ryoko had watched the movement intently, and again a thought seemed to pop into her head: _Left._ She hesitated, and because of her indecision, before she knew it the ball had bounced past her.

To her left. Mitsune had served down the T.

"15-0!"

"What was that?" Keiko asked, putting her hands on her hips. "She didn't even swing! She better not have given up!"

"No," said Yuka, narrowing her eyes, "that's not it..."

Ryoko walked to the next position gazing down at her feet, lost in thought. _Now that I think about it, there's something about her shots... I can't put my finger on it, but..._

The next time Mitsune served, Ryoko thought, _Right._ This time she didn't hesitate, and immediately stepped to the right just as Mitsune's racket was making contact with the ball and sending it in that direction. Ryoko felt a surge of joy as she realized that for perhaps the first time she wouldn't be scrambling to reach Mitsune's serve. She pulled her arm back and attempted a return, but the ball hit her racket off-center and flew straight into the net.

To the surprise of some, Mitsune double-faulted on the next point, making the score 30-15. She faulted again on the next point, but then got her second serve in without decreasing the power at all. Ryoko was able to get a racket on that one but her return went out, making the score 40-15, then she lost the game by hitting the next return again into the net. Ryoko felt on the verge of figuring something out, and she had been quicker to get to Mitsune's serves this time around, but she still hadn't gotten used to the speed of the serves.

"Game, Mitsune. Three games to love. Change court."

"This," Mitsune called out, pointing her racket at Ryoko, "is a regular's strength."

"Speak for yourself," Chisato muttered at courtside, "Mitsune's the only one with that kind of strength. Although, I have to admit, it is a sign of a healthy diet."

"She's speaking figuratively, I suppose," Ayame said.

Ryoko avoided Mitsune's gaze. She stood slightly bent over, grimacing as she rubbed her right wrist. Mitsune's shots were making her wrist ache.

"Wow, this is so one-sided," Ryoko just barely heard someone outside the court say. "Regulars are just too good."

"But isn't that other girl going to be a regular, too?" responded another.

"Apparently, though she's not looking like one right now..."

As she started walking to the other side of the court, Ryoko bowed her head and felt her cheeks burn. They were right. The game felt like it had just started and she was already three games down. Not only that, but, aside from Mitsune's own mistakes, she hadn't managed to win a single rally nor return any of Mitsune's serves!

 _What an embarrassment. How can I ever play in the National Tournament if this is the best I could do?_

Ryoko made sure to avoid Mitsune's gaze as they walked past each other, but as soon as she passed something out of the corner of her eye got her attention. She looked up, and saw Noriko gripping the cage and looking straight at her with an intense gaze.

"Chin up," Noriko said. "It's not over yet."

The words Noriko had said to her before the match came back to Ryoko: _Just play your game and you'll be fine._

Ryoko nodded. She turned and walked to the baseline, tennis ball in hand. The girl closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deep, then stood up straight again.

 _She's right. I can do better than this. 'Just play your game and you'll be fine.' Like I did against Tamiyo. Identify the problem and solve it. Instead of spin, now it's raw power._

Ryoko bounced the tennis ball in front of her, preparing to serve. _I'm embarrassed. I hate this feeling._ She looked up at Mitsune, who was in position to receive her serve and looking back at her confidently. _The way to stop this feeling is to show her—no, show everyone...!_

She tossed the ball into the air.

 _I have to overcome her power. I have to take that advantage away!_

Her knees bent and she brought her arm back in perfect form as she prepared to strike.

 _I can do it!_


	11. Anticipation

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 11: Anticipation

...

As the ball descended, Ryoko's racket shot forward, sending it to the corner of Mitsune's service box.

Ryoko focused on Mitsune, and as soon as the older girl pulled her arm back and shifted her weight in preparation to hit, Ryoko was off running. Mitsune hit a strong down-the-line shot, but Ryoko was there to receive it. The two continued to rally until Ryoko won the point with a precise forehand to Mitsune's corner. They rallied on the next point as well, where eventually an aggressive backhand from Mitsune put Ryoko too out of position to reach the follow up.

With the score tied at 15-15, the third point evolved into another rally. Ryoko was now able to reach Mitsune's shots much better than in the first three games, but that didn't mean they were easy to return by any means. She was concentrating hard, trying to hit her shots as best she could so Mitsune had as few chances as possible to hit winners.

The match started to feel like a tug-of-war: if one of them faltered, the other would be there to pull her down.

And then, as she was focusing on another one of Mitsune's swings, it finally clicked for Ryoko.

 _Oh, of course!_ _Her shots are mostly flat, with no spin! She's like the opposite of Tamiyo-chan._

Mitsune sent her wide with another strong shot, like she'd done many times in the match already. _Mitsune-senpai always tries to hit as straight a shot as she can, because those shots have the fastest travel time._ The thought gave Ryoko an idea as she pulled her arm back to strike. She twisted her wrist and hit a slice shot instead of the topspin shot she'd been planning to hit. The backspin of the slice shot made the ball sail closely over the net and bounce less than a normal shot would have, up to more or less net height on Mitsune's side of the court.

The older girl frowned. As Ryoko suspected, the bounce was too low for her to hit a full-strength flat shot because she didn't have the angle; it would either hit the net or go out. So instead of the winner she most likely would have hit, Mitsune hit a shot that Ryoko easily had time to get back in position to hit. The rally then continued, until a few shots later Ryoko hit a winner.

"30-15!"

Ryoko shyly fist pumped. _Yes!_

"Well," Ayame said, "it seems we have a real match."

"It's almost like Ryoko's faster now," Noriko said.

Chisato tapped her chin. "Hmm. It's not that she's faster. She's just starting to move _sooner_."

"How come?" Keiko asked.

"Mm, maybe she was being indecisive before?" Chisato suggested. "I've noticed that's a bad habit of hers."

Ryoko began to incorporate slices into her shots, especially when she started to feel Mitsune putting her off-balance, and found that as long as she hit them well she was able to slow Mitsune's momentum. To apply her own momentum, she also made a conscious attempt to alternate hitting to the left corner and the right corner, forcing Mitsune to run around.

Mitsune only won one more point before, to the surprised murmurs of many of those watching, the umpire announced: "Game, Ryoko. Mitsune leads three games to one."

"All right!" Noriko exclaimed. "She's on the board!"

"I'm not too surprised she took a game off Mitsune-san," said Tamiyo, "but she still has to deal with her serve."

Noriko gripped the cage, watching intently. _You can do it, Ryoko. Somehow!_

Ryoko and Mitsune got into position to start the next game. The older girl clearly wasn't pleased at having lost the previous game, but she still looked confident as she bounced the tennis ball in front of her. Ryoko, on the other hand, stared at her opponent intently with narrowed eyes.

"Whoa, check out the look of concentration on Ryoko's face," Keiko said, giggling to herself. "It's like she's trying to use the Force on senpai."

Tamiyo frowned. "The what?"

"The Force! You know, like a Jedi from Star Wars." Keiko cupped her hands over her mouth and imitated Darth Vader's breathy voice: "Tamiyo-Luke-chan, I am your faaather—"

Sighing, Ayame stepped over and clamped a hand over her sister's mouth. "Quiet, chibi. The point's starting."

If either girl on court could hear the antics going on outside of it, they didn't show it. They seemed to be completely focused on the battle they were waging.

Ryoko played back Mitsune's form in her mind, and as she did, she realized what she'd started instinctually doing: based on the movement of Mitsune's body, she could predict which way the older girl was going to try to hit the ball. It was probably only possible because Mitsune had a large swing motion and a flat shot, but given her position and which way her body was facing, Ryoko could anticipate the direction the older girl would hit towards with surprising accuracy.

Mitsune tossed the ball up and pulled her arm back to serve, prompting some in the crowd to exclaim "Bazooka Serve!" Her racket smashed into the ball, sending a yellow blur towards Ryoko's service box.

Ryoko stepped to the side and swung, making contact with the ball. It flew straight towards Mitsune's baseline, but bounced about a foot behind it.

"Out! 15-0!"

Noriko ruffled her own hair. "Ahh, come on, Ryoko. You have to be able to return it."

Yuka narrowed her eyes. "That one wasn't too far off..."

Ryoko was frowning as they got into position for the next point, but it was a frown of concentration. _Now that I think about it, she has only ever served wide or down-the-line. Maybe I only have to worry about choosing right or left..._

Mitsune tossed the ball up. Ryoko's perceptive eyes noticed that her body and racket were facing slightly more to the side. _She's serving wide!_ Again Ryoko side-stepped, this time to the left, just as Mitsune's racket smashed into the ball. Ryoko was there, in perfect position, as she brought her racket forward to make contact with the ball. Her timing was ever so off, though, making it miss the sweet spot of her racket by centimeters.

The ball flew straight into the strap of the net, then bounced up. The two girls on court and all the onlookers watched on for seconds that seemed to stretch into minutes as the ball floated back down... into Mitsune's side of the court.

Ryoko blinked three times to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"15-15!"

"Haha, yes!" Noriko exclaimed, the first to break the silence. "She returned one of your serves, senpai! Change your mind about her yet?"

"Noriko-chan!" Chisato said, trying to calm the younger girl down.

Mitsune frowned. "It's rude to talk to your senpai like that," she called over to Noriko. Then she turned to Ryoko and said, "You got lucky. That one doesn't count."

Ryoko simply walked to the next receiving position, a look of determination on her face. _I did get lucky, but I'm also getting the timing down._ She narrowed her eyes at Mitsune, gripping her racket tight. _Come on, one more. This time I'll return it properly._

Time seemed to slow down for Ryoko when Mitsune tossed the ball up on her next serve. Almost as soon as her racket started moving with form identical to the previous serve, Ryoko's feet moved as well.

Ryoko swung as the ball flew towards her, and she knew it was close to a perfect hit when her racket made contact with the ball. The shot flew straight back at Mitsune almost as fast as it had come, and it had just enough topspin to make it dip into the court and bounce near the baseline. Mitsune, who had certainly _not_ been expecting it, stumbled and tried to hit it back, but it was too close to her feet and she completely whiffed.

"15-30!" the umpire said after a few moments of stunned silence.

Most of those watching the match stared in utter surprise, including both Ryoko and Mitsune.

"She returned the Bazooka Serve!" said someone in the crowd. "I can't believe it!"

Ryoko stared slack-jawed at the spot her shot had bounced at. Then as Mitsune regained her balance and looked across the court at her, Ryoko stood up straighter and, seemingly forgetting herself, said, "Does _that_ one count, senpai?"

The girl seemed to regret speaking almost immediately, because she covered her mouth and blushed furiously.

Mitsune scowled in frustration. "Don't get cocky, newbie!"

Noriko was trying hard to contain her laughter. "Oh man, I didn't think she had it in her to say that!"

"I still don't get it, though," Keiko said. "What changed? Why can she return the serves now?"

Yuka crossed her arms, watching on with interest. _Has she figured out the weakness of Mitsune's serve? If she realizes Mitsune only ever aims her serve in one of two spots, she can theoretically just guess and have a 1 in 2 chance of being in the right place, rather than trying to rely on pure reaction._

Mitsune served and again Ryoko got her racket on it, but the ball flew high up.

"It's staying in!" Noriko said. "She returned it again!"

"Hm, this return wasn't as good, though," Yuka said, "and there's little chance of Mitsune letting a chance ball like that go to waste."

"Tch." Mitsune positioned herself underneath the incoming ball, ready to smash it to end the point. Ryoko ran to the middle of the baseline and narrowed her eyes, focusing intently on her opponent.

"From that close to the net," Yuka was saying, "a smash is almost like a close-range serve. It will be difficult for Ryoko-chan to—"

Yuka's words were cut short and her eyes went wide as she saw Ryoko suddenly lunge to the side as soon as Mitsune began to swing her racket. Mitsune sent a veritable rocket to the corner of the court, and the ball bounced too high for a normal shot, but Ryoko leaped, stretching her arm out as far as it could go... yet her racket missed the ball by mere centimeters. It flew past her and into the cage behind her.

"30-30!"

Ryoko landed nimbly and let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Wow!" Chisato exclaimed, adjusting her glasses, "What athleticism! She almost reached that smash."

Yuka recovered quickly from her surprise, but she was even deeper in thought. _Was that a guess? It's true that Mitsune's smash form is almost identical to her serve form, so if she's guessing for one, she could guess for both. Her success rate has been far better than the 50% one would expect from pure guessing, though..._

Almost imperceptibly to the others, Yuka edged closer to the cage, watching the match with even keener interest. _Can it be? Does Ryoko possess... DVA?_

From that point forward, Ryoko was always able to get her racket on Mitsune's serve. Some of her returns were great and allowed the point to evolve into a rally, which were now much more balanced than in the beginning of the match. Other returns weren't good, and more often than not those points ended with a smash from Mitsune. The game quickly went to deuce, then the girls traded advantage a half dozen times. Mitsune occasionally faulted, even throwing in a double fault that gave Ryoko a break chance, but with the advantage of serve Mitsune was able to eventually seal the deal.

"Game, Mitsune. Mitsune leads four games to one. Change court."

Noriko ruffled her own hair again. "Ahh, nooo! After all that, she didn't even break senpai's serve!"

Ryoko had her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. Drops of sweat slid down her face.

"Ryoko's so tired," Keiko said. "Is she even gonna have the energy to finish the match?"

Chisato sighed and said, with a slight shake of her head, "If anything, after that long game Mitsune's the one that has to worry."

"Eh?"

Indeed, whereas Ryoko was breathing heavily, Mitsune was down on one knee, panting. They could see that her jersey was beginning to cling to her body from all the sweat.

"Wait, what?" Keiko asked, eyebrows raising. "How? Why?"

Ayame sighed. "Pay attention, chibi."

"What what whaaat?"

After the side switch, Ryoko served and the next rally began. Keiko tried hard to see what the others meant, and it took a few points, but eventually she slammed a fist into her palm in revelation.

"Oh, I get it! She's forcing senpai to run even more than she is."

"Yes," Yuka said, "but that's not all. Look."

Ryoko was hitting a slice shot at that moment. Mitsune bent her knees slightly to hit the low-bouncing ball back to Ryoko's side of the court.

"Ryoko-chan occasionally throws in a slice that bounces too low for Mitsune to hit comfortably," Yuka explained. "It demands just that bit more energy from her, and must also be frustrating because she can't hit it as well as she'd like."

"Whoa," Keiko muttered, looking at the match with new eyes.

Not too long after, the umpire called out: "Game, Ryoko. Mitsune leads four games to two."

Mitsune served the next game, and although she still used her Bazooka Serve every time, all present could see it started to lack the power it had in the beginning of the game. Ryoko's eyes had gotten used to the speed of the serve and to predicting which side Mitsune was aiming for, so she was able to return every single one.

On top of that, Mitsune was getting increasingly irritated as the match progressed, which led to more mistakes. She double-faulted again on a crucial point, then followed it up with an unforced error which gave Ryoko the game.

For the first time in the match, Ryoko did what initially had seemed impossible: she broke Mitsune's serve.

Ayame whistled. "That's the first time I've seen a second-year break Mitsune's serve."

The pattern continued in the next few games until sometime later the umpire announced: "Game, Ryoko. Ryoko leads five games to four. Change court."

During the break when the two girls were switching sides, Noriko's eyes scanned the faces of her clubmates around her and of the gathered crowd watching the match. It seemed that everyone was engaged, genuinely excited to see what would happen point after point, chatting about what they were seeing, and even cheering after particularly impressive rallies.

The brown-haired girl looked back at Ryoko. The match had been quite the ordeal so she wasn't surprised to see her friend breathing deep and dripping sweat, but she also looked confident and focused.

Noriko couldn't help but smile. _The shy girl everyone thought would lose 6-0 in the beginning, is now giving a knock-out center stage performance against one of the best players on the team! Just one more game, and it's her victory!_

"40-30! Match point," the umpire called out as Ryoko walked up to the next serve position.

Keiko's were wide. "By Zangief's beard! One more game and she wins!"

Noriko laughed. "That's our friend for ya. Go, Ryoko!"

Yuka was smiling too, looking at Ryoko intently. _She has two critical flaws, one of which is her reliably slow start in matches. However, when she gets in the zone, it's like she gets stronger, the stronger her opponent is._ If anyone had cared to look at her in that moment, they might have noticed the glint in her eye, which was almost... mischievous. _How will you fare against the very best when the time comes, Ryoko-chan?_

Ryoko wiped a bit of sweat off her brow, then served, getting into yet another rally with Mitsune. The two girls traded shots, and though both were tired, it was clear Ryoko had more left in the tank compared to her opponent. She gained the edge in the rally, hitting a wide cross court shot that had Mitsune scrambling way off the court to reach it.

 _No!_ Mitsune was thinking, her features contorting with effort. _I can't let it end like this!_

With one last spurt of energy the third-year girl leapt, and she swung and hit the ball back instants before it bounced a second time. She landed painfully on her side, but ignored the pain and forced herself to get back up to continue playing...

When she looked up, she saw that she'd hit the ball back successfully... yet she now also saw that Ryoko had followed up her previous shot with a net approach. In a match that had been dominated by power shots, on this last point Ryoko skillfully tilted her racket, hitting a drop volley away from the side of the court Mitsune was on. Even if Mitsune had already been up and running, she wouldn't have reached it.

"Game and match, Ryoko. Six games to four."

Exclamations of marvel erupted from many of those watching.

"What a comeback!" someone said.

"That was a great match!" their friend said.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting much from the beginning, but it got really good."

Noriko threw her fists in the air. "Yeaaah, Ryoko!"

Keiko was jumping up and down. "That's what you get when you mess with one of the Ko Trio!"

Ryoko put her hands on her knees, taking in breath after breath. Her chest ached, her legs were sore, and her wrist hurt, but she felt good. _I've done it. I actually beat a regular!_

Slowly, she became aware of the clapping, and looked up to see several students in the crowd applauding the conclusion of the match. It wasn't the same kind of embarrassment from the beginning of the match, but she still felt her cheeks flush from the attention. Once more keenly aware again of all the eyes that had been watching that whole time, she hugged her racket protectively.

The sudden sound of a racket skittering across the court, accompanied by a shout of "Damn it!" silenced everyone.

Mitsune, still on her hands and knees, had thrown her racket in anger. She looked down at the court, drops of sweat sliding off her face, her features twisted into a deep frown. Eventually she stood up and fetched her (thankfully unbroken) racket, then turned and gave Ryoko a dirty look.

"I'm not losing to you again, Aoshima," Mitsune growled. "Mark my words: never again! The next time we play, _I'm_ the one who's going to win."

With that, Mitsune headed towards the cage entrance.

The regulars that had been watching the match heard Sakura sigh. The blonde-haired captain strode past them and stood right in the middle of the cage entrance, blocking Mitsune's path, a serious expression on her face. Mitsune's eyes met Sakura's for just a second, then she averted them, looking down and to the side.

"Mitsune Yonesima," Sakura said, her voice stern, "no matter what the result of the match is, no matter how frustrated you're feeling, you _always shake your opponent's hand_."

She took a few seconds to glance meaningfully around at the students around the courts that had been watching the match, many of whom were second- or even first-years.

"You concern yourself so often with proper behavior between upperclassmen and underclassmen. Well, you've given your underclassmen an excellent example of tennis prowess; now be a proper senpai, and give them an excellent example of sportsmanship."

Mitsune grimaced, hesitating several seconds. Then, her decision having been made, she stood up straighter and nodded at the captain, and though her expression didn't soften she finally turned and walked to the net, extending her hand to Ryoko.

Ryoko glanced up shyly at her senpai. Though she was looking off to the side, Ryoko could still see a great frustration in her eyes. It wasn't hard to guess why. She slowly reached out her own hand.

The handshake lasted barely a second, then Mitsune was once again heading towards the exit.

"Keep up the good work, Mitsune," Sakura said, this time stepping aside to let her pass. She let out a small sigh as the taller girl walked by without responding.

Afterwards, the captain turned to everyone and said: "All right everyone, this concludes our first ranking matches of the year. I will officially announce the results on Monday during practice. Let's get some rest this weekend, because normal practice resumes next week!"

...

Outside the court, Mitsune had stridden past the line of regulars without even sparing them a glance or a word, wanting nothing more than to distance herself from the court. Thankfully, no one tried to stop her, although, as she turned a corner and heard footsteps behind her, it seemed one of them did follow her...

"Mitsune!" Chisato called out behind her.

Mitsune stopped walking but didn't turn around. "What do you want?"

"I... Well, I just wanted to say that you played really well. You shouldn't feel bad just because you lost. You gave it your all, and that's all that matters, right?"

There was a long silence as Mitsune chewed on those words. In the end, though, her frown grew and she shook her head.

"No, _winning_ is all that matters," the tall girl declared. "There's no point if I don't win. But I don't expect _you_ to understand that."

Chisato struggled to find the right words to say, but Mitsune had soon already walked away.

...

When Ryoko made her way off the court, she was immediately flanked by Noriko and Keiko, who double-hug-attacked her.

"Congrats, Ryoko! Wooo!"

"Ko Trio for the win! Ew, you're sweaty!"

Ayame, Yuka, and Sakura joined the circle.

"Good match, Ryoko-chan," the captain said.

"Yeah, quite the comeback," Ayame said. Yuka smiled warmly and nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, everyone," Ryoko said, blushing.

"Ryoko-chan..."

"Yes, Yuka-senpai?"

"In Mitsune's third service game, something changed, didn't it?"

Ryoko tried to think back to which game had been Mitsune's third service game. It was difficult; most of the points blurred together after a while. The girl had an inkling as to what Yuka was referring to, though, since it had been the most crucial change she'd made in the match.

"Um... well, after a while I noticed that Mitsune-senpai tends to turn her body a lot when she swings."

"I see. So you were paying attention to how her body was moving to anticipate where her shots would go?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Ryoko nodded. "I guess."

"Whoa, no way! You were doing something cool like that?" Keiko said, mouth agape. "Why didn't you say so? You should have been like, 'Senpai-san, I know every move you're going to make before _you_ even know it!'"

Ryoko chuckled bashfully. "I mean, it wasn't _that_ much..."

"It sure explains why it seemed like you got faster, though," Noriko said.

Keiko gasped. "It really _was_ like she was reading senpai's mind with the Force! See, Tamiyo-chan, didn't I tell you?" Keiko glanced over to where Tamiyo had been watching the match. Immediately she pointed a finger and exclaimed "Ahhh!"

The others turned to look at what she was pointing at and saw Tamiyo resting on the ground using her arms as a pillow. She had been snoozing away, but at Keiko's pointed exclamation she stirred and opened her drowsy eyes to look up at them.

"You _slept_ through the match?" Keiko asked incredulously.

Tamiyo rubbed her eyes. "Mrmm... only after it became obvious who would win."

"Oh yeah? And who was that, Miss Know-It-All?"

"Ryoko-san. After she overcame the Bazooka Serve, I knew she would just keep adapting, while Mitsune-san's strength could only go down as her stamina ran out." Tamiyo yawned. "No brainer. Let me guess, score was 6-4?"

Keiko crossed her arms defiantly. "Nope! Ryoko won 7-4!"

"...That's not even a score that's possible in the tennis."

"That's just how good she is!"

Ryoko chuckled nervously as that mini-argument continued. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Noriko smiling at her and making a 'V' with her fingers.

"Grats, girl! Didn't I tell ya?"

Ryoko beamed, immediately reminded of that crucial moment in the first half of the match when Noriko had given her a much needed boost of morale.

"Thanks so much, Noriko. I don't know if I could have won without your encouragement."

"Oh really?" The brown-haired girl smirked. "Then can I take half that win for my own score?"

"Um... you know, Noriko, I'm really thirsty. I'm going to go get some water."

"Hey, you're changing the subject!"


	12. The Regulars of Seigaku

**Ryoko: The Princess of Tennis**

リョーコ  
テニスの王女様

Episode 12: The Regulars of Seigaku

...

When the recess bell rang on the Monday following the week of ranking matches, Sakura Sugiike diligently closed her notebook and put away her things. She took out a particular piece of paper from her backpack and left the classroom, heading to the teacher's office on the third floor. Facing the door with feet close together, the girl knocked twice.

"Ryuzaki-sensei? It's Sakura."

"Come in."

She entered the office to see Ryuzaki behind a desk poring over several pieces of paper. In front of the desk stood a tall, broad-shouldered boy with blonde hair and glasses, the captain of the boys' tennis club, Kunimitsu Tezuka. He and Ryuzaki turned to regard Sakura as she closed the door behind her and approached.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, Tezuka-san," Sakura greeted them with a smile. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all," Ryuzaki answered.

Sakura turned to the boy. "Tezuka-san, how's your arm?"

"Sugiike-san," Tezuka said, nodding. "It's still not 100%, but it's improving."

"That's good to hear."

"So, Sakura," Ryuzaki started, "the girls' ranking matches finished last Friday, right? How did it go?"

"It went well, Ryuzaki-sensei," Sakura said, sliding her piece of paper in front of Ryuzaki. "These are the results."

Ryuzaki's eyes went down the list. "Hmm. What's your analysis, Sakura?"

"I believe our team will be quite strong this year," Sakura said. "Several of our previous regulars graduated recently, but fortunately the new players that replaced them are quite skilled. Besides myself, we also have four returning regulars that you'll probably remember."

"Refresh my memory please."

Sakura stepped closer to the desk, pointing to the first name on the piece of paper. Beside it was a profile picture of a girl with short purplish-black hair and deep dark purple eyes, wearing a cap with the letter 'A' on it. She smiled at the camera with an easygoing expression.

"Vice-captain Ayame Maeki, third-year, returning regular. One of her main strengths is the accuracy of her shots. She's able to place the ball anywhere on the court with pinpoint precision."

"Well, every tennis player worth their salt should be able to do that," Ryuzaki said.

"To an extent, yes, but Ayame's precision goes beyond the norm."

"All right. Go on."

Sakura pointed to the next name. The picture beside it showed a grumpy-looking girl with long, dark brown hair. The slightly upward angle of the picture suggested that the girl was taller than whoever had taken the picture.

"Mitsune Yonesima, third-year, returning regular. Physically, she's the strongest on the team. She uses her hard-hitting shots to overwhelm her opponents."

"A power player, huh?" Ryuzaki asked.

Next, Sakura pointed to a kind-looking girl with light brown hair tied back in two ponytails, and brown eyes behind a pair of glasses.

"Chisato Fukano, third-year, returning regular. She's very knowledgeable about nutrition and exercise, and even sticks to a diet and exercise plan of her own making."

"Hmm," Ryuzaki said, "that seems like a skillset that could be used to benefit the entire team."

"My thoughts exactly."

The next name was that of a smiling girl with short dirty-blonde hair and hazel eyes.

Ryuzaki spoke up before Sakura: "Yuka, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Yuka Kiyomura, third-year, returning regular."

"Hmmm." Ryuzaki narrowed her eyes. "Yes. I remember watching this one play and being strongly reminded of a certain prodigy on the boys' team."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow. "Fuji?"

"Well," Sakura said after the moment of silence, "it seems I don't need to say more about her, then. The last three are newcomers. First—"

She pointed to an ecstatic-looking girl with spiky red-hair beaming at the camera and making 'V's with both hands.

"Keiko Maeki, second-year. She hasn't been playing tennis as long as the others, from what I've heard, and plays a somewhat unorthodox style, but is very driven. She's also Ayame's sister, so I predict they'll make a good doubles team."

"Doubles has traditionally been our school's weakness," Ryuzaki said, "so it would be good if you were right about that."

Sakura moved on to the second-to-last name, that of a girl with short chestnut brown hair and eyes of the same color.

"Noriko Ishino, second-year. Her speed is incredible. I've been told she was part of the track and field team for many years during elementary school."

"Indeed."

"Lastly..."

In the picture beside the last name, a blushing girl with light blue eyes and black hair tied back in a single ponytail stared timidly at her own shoes.

"Ryoko Aoshima, second-year, a recent transfer student."

Sakura paused, seeming to hesitate for the first time. Ryuzaki looked up at the now frowning girl.

"Sakura?"

"To be honest, Ryuzaki-sensei, I don't know if I have an accurate read on this girl. She defeated not only Mitsune but also Tamiyo Nishinaka, a transfer student from Itoguruma Gakuen. If it wasn't for Ryoko-chan, I'm confident Tamiyo-chan would have been on this list instead."

"So she's good, then?"

"Undoubtedly. She shows great potential. I just don't know how high that potential goes."

"Hmm, this shy girl, huh?" Ryuzaki said, amused, looking at Ryoko's picture again. "I met her not too long ago. I guess looks can be deceiving." She looked up at Tezuka. "Hear that, Tezuka? Looks like you're not the only one with a wildcard on your hands."

"So it would seem," Tezuka said.

"Aren't you forgetting someone, though, Sakura?"

"Oh." Sakura stood up straight and squared her shoulders. "Sakura Sugiike, third-year, returning regular."

Sakura was too humble to continue, so after waiting a moment Ryuzaki did it for her: "Like the boy standing next to her, a national-level player good enough to win a scholarship to play tennis outside of Japan."

Ryuzaki stood up and smiled at them, hands on her hips. "I agree with your analysis, Sakura. Both of you have very strong teams. I believe Seigaku can go far this year, but that also depends on your leadership. Let's give it our all, eh?"

Tezuka and Sakura responded in unison: "Yes!"

"Well, that's all from me," Sakura said afterwards, giving them a short bow. "Have a good day, Ryuzaki-sensei, Tezuka-san."

As Sakura was about to turn to go, Ryuzaki asked: "Oh, Sakura... How's your mom doing?"

Sakura's smile faltered and she hesitated for a moment. "She's getting better, sensei. Thanks for asking."

Ryuzaki nodded. "Good to hear. Have a good day, Sakura."

...

"All right everyone, gather up!" Sakura's voice boomed over the sounds of practice. "Regulars, line up in front!"

All of the girls stopped what they were doing and turned to face the captain. Even Tamiyo, who had been snoozing on her tennis bag while she waited for her turn on one of the courts, stirred and sat up to watch.

Ayame, Yuka, Chisato, and Mitsune walked to stand at the forefront of the gathered crowd.

After a few seconds, Sakura looked at the line-up and said: " _All_ regulars, please."

Keiko didn't need any more encouragement. She raced towards the line-up and nudged her way in between Yuka and Ayame so she could stand next to her sister.

"Come on," Noriko whispered to Ryoko and began walking forward as well.

Ryoko felt like her heart was trying to crawl out of her throat as she followed Noriko and came to stand at the end of the line-up of Seigaku regulars. She could feel the eyes of many of her fellow clubmates on them, the new regulars of Seigaku!

"Congratulations," Sakura said. "You are here because, per the results of the recent ranking matches, you are the very best that Seigaku has to offer. However, that also means you must train even harder to represent our school well in the coming tournaments. Keep in mind that all the other schools are also giving it their all. We can't let ourselves fall behind."

She looked past them, at the rest of the club members, and continued, "That goes for the rest of you, as well! If you work hard enough, any one of you could be standing up here in the future. In fact, I have no doubt that someday you will. So as always, keep up the good work!"

Sakura smiled, taking a few seconds to look each of the regulars in the eye.

"Our team has never made it past the second round of the Regional Tournament. I think it's about time we changed that, don't you?"

There were many cheers in agreement with that sentiment.

"Captain."

Every pair of eyes turned to regard Tamiyo as she walked up to the front of the crowd.

"Any chance Seigaku could field nine regulars this time around?" the drowsy-looking girl asked.

Sakura shook her head. "No. Tournament rules only allow eight registered players."

Tamiyo smirked. "Then how about we play a match? If I beat you, I get your regular spot."

Several of the girls in the crowd gasped at Tamiyo's boldness. Sakura herself, though, just looked at Tamiyo with an amused expression.

"We will hold ranking matches again after the Prefectural Tournament, Tamiyo-chan. My suggestion is that you train for when that time comes."

Tamiyo sighed, though she didn't seem too surprised by the answer. She nodded. "I'll be ready."

Sakura faced the gathered club members again. "Well then. Back to practice, everyone!"

...

Ryoko, Noriko, and Keiko met up after school to walk to the clothing store that took care of orders for the sports clubs of Seishun Gakuen. They walked most of the way there in silence, focusing their barely-contained anticipation on moving faster instead. When they finally reached the store, they practically jogged up to the counter and gave the kindly old man behind the counter their names and student IDs.

"Ah," the man nodded in recognition, "Seigaku? Right, one moment."

He disappeared in the back for a minute, then came back holding three plastic bundles which he handed to them after they'd signed receipt forms. The girls thanked him enthusiastically and left the store as quickly as they'd come in.

As soon as they were outside, they stopped and looked at each other.

"We're not waiting to try these on, are we?"

"No way!"

They retrieved the jackets from the plastic coverings, spread them out, and put them on in what seemed like only instants.

The girls' tennis club regular jacket was the same as the boys'. The collar was blue, the front was white with a blue stripe down the middle and blue stripes down the side, and the sleeves were blue with a white stripe running down the middle of each arm. 'Seigaku Tennis Club' was written in small letters over the heart, and in larger letters on the back.

The three girls looked at each other and also down at themselves, their eyes practically sparkling as they admired their new jackets.

"Noriko, Keiko," Ryoko said, beaming at her friends, "let's take Seigaku to the Nationals! No, let's _win_ the Nationals!"

Noriko and Keiko glanced at the each other, surprised at the boldness of their shy friend's words. But though they'd been unexpected, they found that it precisely reflected their feelings at that moment.

"Damn right we will!" Noriko agreed, raising a fist in the air.

"Nationals! Nationals!" Keiko said, jumping up and down. "Regular Ko Trio for the win!"

And so, as the sun set over the horizon, the three newest regulars of Seigaku made their way home, and daydreamed about the challenges (and, hopefully, successes) to come.

The first one being the District Tournament, which started the very next week.

* * *

A/N: Hello, dear reader! This episode concludes the story's "Season 1" as it were, the Ranking Matches arc. Thank you so much for reading this far. I hope you've enjoyed the journey so far and that you'll keep coming back as we move forward! :)


End file.
